The Cross, the Blood, and You! (Pt.5)

(Pt.5)

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars: “I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead.”-Revelation 3:1 

I have often thought that if I had not been a pastor I may have been a funeral home director. Caring for the deceased and their families is a noble profession. One aspect of the job, however, that is not very glamorous is preparing the body for burial. A body goes through the process of embalming. 

A very simplified explanation of the embalming process is that the blood is removed from the body and chemicals are injected to slow decomposition. In essence, we are trying to make something dead look as alive as possible. This process allows for family and friends to pay their respects and properly grieve the loss of their loved one. 

This caused me to think about a dilemma facing many churches today. Jesus recognized that there are churches that have a reputation of being alive, but are dead. How does a church look alive, but be dead inside. They embalm themselves. I found in my studies that there are three reasons for embalming:

Sanitation 

Presentation 

Preservation 

An embalmed church has determined to sanitize its message. They do this by removing virtually every semblance of the blood and brutality of the cross and replace it with programs, activities and acts of compassion. Their goal is to be more presentable to the community, to become a place where people never feel uncomfortable, where they can come and experience the love of Christ without any conviction. A place where they are not subjected to seeing the bloody price that was paid because of their own sinful choices. It is an attempt to make the church more palatable for generations to come by preserving their way of life and their place in the culture. 

You ask, can a church survive very long like that? The answer to that question should be obvious. However, in my research I found that a person who is embalmed correctly will still be recognizable 50, 60, to 70 years later. They are simply a shell, but they are recognizable. Jesus said that Sardis looked alive, but was really dead inside. An embalmed church that is emptied of the blood can be dead inside, but still resemble a church for many years. 

However, in these last days, God is not looking for an embalmed church. He is coming back for a blood-bought, blood washed church that has embraced the blood stained cross of Christ.

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church