The downward spiral beginning with the Ephesian church’s loss of its first love for Jesus and continuing with Pergamum’s worldliness and Thyatira’s toleration of sin, reaches a new low at Sardis. Christ here declares the hope and plan for revival to a dying church.

This letter is the longest of the seven, though addressed to the church in the smallest of the seven cities. It has an important message for today: false doctrine and sin are not to be allowed—even under the banner of love, toleration, and unity.

Worldliness is the preoccupation with or interest in things of no eternal value. Cultural compromise is the next downward spiral for a church that loses its first love. Authentic Jesus-followers understand that they do not belong to this world, so they must not act like this world.

Throughout history, a seemingly paradoxical truth is that greater persecution of the church produces greater purity and strength in the church. Smyrna is one example. Such authentic followers receive only good words from the Master.

What are the motives that move Evergreen forward? As we complete the Year of Salt and Light, we must ponder the question: Why do we do what we do? Just as the Sermon on the Mount calls the individual Jesus follower to continually examine personal motives, the Living Lord regularly examines the motives of churches as well.

Studies confirm what we already know—our lives suffer from too much noise. Hundreds of advertisements assault us daily. The stress of activity and the urgencies of distraction frazzle us. As we rush from one task to another, we yearn for five minutes of peace. Why? Because God creates each one of us with a need for the discipline of quiet.

People in the western world, where the shepherding of flocks is normally done by driving sheep with dogs, may find it hard to grasp the intimacy seen in biblical shepherd passages. Here, the shepherd is pictured as having a personal attachment to the sheep, and the sheep are portrayed as recognizing the shepherd’s voice and responding. The rewards for this unique relationship are both satisfying and eternal.

As God works through His people to bring salt and light to the world, He promises to share His glory with them. But in their sinful hearts, they can be tempted to forget who is truly changing the world around them. The test for Evergreen is not whether temptation will come; it is a matter of when. The only thing more predictable than the temptation is the certainty that God will provide an escape to help us finish the race!