Studying Sardis: Waking up and taking the next step

Yesterday I wrote about Laodicea; today I’d like to back up a few verses to check out the way the church in Sardis is described.

I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. {Revelation 3:1b-2}

While you ponder that, consider what Dr. Erik W. Carter shares on page 7 of Including People with Disabilities in Faith Communities,

LaRocque and Eigenbrood (2005) surveyed 91 Christian, Jewish, and Muslim congregations about how accessible they were for people with disabilities. Most reported being only in the very early stages of increasing their accessibility. For example, although 71% of congregations said general awareness of barriers to the participation of children and adults existed in their faith community, 69% of congregations reported that they had not yet started or were only getting started at transforming their community “into a place where children and adults with disabilities are welcomed, fully included, and treated with respect” (p. 60). Furthermore, only 53% of congregations said that they were well on their way to increasing the participation of people with disabilities in their congregation and only 28% had explored partnerships with community agencies and organizations serving people with disabilities.

Consider the implications of that. Nearly 30% of religious congregations don’t even have a general awareness of barriers to including people with special needs. More than half were doing nothing about it or just getting started. Less than a third had reached out to those in the community with more expertise.

Granted, that research wasn’t just limited to Christian congregations, but it’s worth considering nonetheless (particularly because so little research is available about religious life and disabilities).
Now look back at Christ’s words to the church in Sardis:

I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. {Revelation 3:1b-2}

What do you think He would have to say about our reputation? Let’s become a church – in the broad sense – that strengthens what remains and is about to die. For some churches, that might mean stepping up our efforts to fully welcome and include people with special needs. For others, it may be starting something new because no efforts have been made yet.

Whatever that next step is, do it. Wake up. Strengthen what remains and is about to die.

Be alive.