Greg Austen

Last week I wrote about our church’s core values and I thought I’d follow-up with a list of eight core values that correspond to Saint John’s messages in the book Revelation to seven real first-century churches. These are God’s core values for healthy churches if you will, and, as you’ll see, certainly have great relevance to our hearts and churches today. Additionally, just prior to writing, I finished Eugene Peterson’s As Kingfishers Catch Fire. It’s a wonderful collection of Peterson’s sermons touching on themes from Genesis to Revelation. It’s also one of the most spiritually nourishing books I’ve read to date. Besides reflecting the earthy context of real-life ministry, his stories and word pictures are rich, and his insights life-changing. Since his last chapter had some guidance on how to read Revelation, I thought I’d include it as a bonus for your reflection. Enjoy!

Eight Core Values for Healthy Churches from Revelation 1-3:

1. We believe it is our responsibility to burn brightly with the brilliance of the biblical Jesus. (lampstands)
2. We believe in the primacy of maintaining a passionate love for God and his people. (Ephesus)
3. We believe that God will keep his people in suffering, but not always from it. (Smyrna)
4. We believe in protecting the church from leadership or movements encouraging idolatry or sexual perversion. (Pergamum)
5. We believe in extending a loving embrace to all people but not all ideas or behaviors. (Thyatira)
6. We believe a firm hold on Scripture is necessary to keep faith strong and alive. (Sardis)
7. We believe that the future of frail humans is secure because of the power and protection of God. (Philadelphia)
8. We believe that intimacy with Jesus is the only safeguard against consumerism, materialism, and passionless Christianity. (Laodicea)

For reflection: As you look at the values above, which is the strongest in your life or church? Which is the weakest? What do you take encouragement from? Where is repentance needed?

Bonus—Eugene Peterson on reading Revelation:

• “The introductory sentence in Revelation is ‘The revelation of Jesus Christ,’ not the end of the world, not the identity of the Antichrist, but the centering and recentering act of each day: ‘Worship God”… Worship recovers its authentic focus in Jesus Christ. It is complex work, more complex even than brilliantly arranged sights and sounds, proportions and actions, numbers and animals in his poetic imagination.” (368)
• “The most common misreading of Revelation comes from reading it as predictive prophecy., what is going to happen in the future. There are, to be sure, references to the past and implications for the future, but the predominant emphasis of the prophetic word is on the present, the presence of God among us in the circumstances of this everyday life. The Bible warns against a neurotic interest in the future (Deuteronomy 18:10-14). (268)
• “I’m not saying that understanding Revelation is easy. John, though, is assuming his first readers knew their Scriptures. That is probably not true of us to the same extent. But I am saying that Revelation is not deliberately obscure… If Revelation is not read as a poem, it is simply incomprehensible. The inability (or refusal) to deal with Saint John the poet is cause for most of the misreading, misinterpretation, and misuse of the book.” (369)