Can you hear me knocking?

Try and set aside the prophetic implications of the verse below for a moment and consider what was being revealed to the Laodiceans at that time. As well as what that may mean for us right here and now.

““To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”” -Revelation 3:14-22

I see three points here that I would like to uplift Conviction, Repentance, and Communion(connection).

Conviction
In our legal system conviction means a deceleration of guilt. Maybe we as individuals in the church actually respond to it that way as if it were synonymous with condemnation. The world certainly does. However, the word itself is derived from the same Latin word for which we get the word convince. Which is a good way to look at it Biblically. Conviction is God trying to convince you that something is wrong within, and spilling out into your actions. Clearly, the Laodiceans thought nothing was wrong. So Christ convicts them to convince them otherwise. Not just define, but convince them that what he is saying is true. In a poetic way, instead of a systematic one.

Repentance
Conviction ultimately requires a response. This is where repentance comes in.
At least if you respond with humility instead of pride that is. We must remember that repentance is just as much a change of heart as it is a change of behavior. People can and do go through the motions of changing their actions for a variety of reasons without actually being convinced of anything. Genuine long-term change ultimately comes from the heart.

Communion
I don’t mean the religious ritual in this case. Rather the intimate exchange of thoughts and ideas. With the word being so synonymous with the ritual, we have unfortunately started to forget what this practice was supposed to be about. Despite the Laodicean's failures, Christ still desires a connection with them. As I said in my religion vs relationship post, one of the literal meanings of the word religion is to reconnect. True religion is communing with God to discern his will, and then acting upon it sincerely.


Christ himself uses a home analogy to uplift this idea of communion when he says “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” We don’t just let anyone into our homes after all. If some stranger barged in unannounced they would be seen as an invader. That is why God doesn’t work that way. We must choose to allow him in and make a space for him at our table. Just as the depth of relationship with people, is congruent with how deep we allow people into our home. With that being said, just allowing Christ in the entryway exposes us to his truth and light. Bringing on more conviction. Meaning we have a choice to make. We can ask Him to leave. We can keep Him in the entryway. Or we can repent further and allow Him into the living room.

Have you ever been going along fine in your Christian walk, but then you stall spiritually. All of a sudden something that didn’t bother you before, starts to concern you. It may be a sign you have gone as far as you can with your current level of communion. So Jesus is knocking on the doorframe of another more private room to see if you will invite him in further. Exposing your home to more of his truth and light. Where none of the dirt, clutter, or cracks in the walls can escape his gaze. while impatient church people may expect you to get your house clean in an instant. Jesus can see all the scars on our hearts, and the wounded spirit that lies behind our poor choices. While many church people will only point a finger at the problem, Jesus wants to be part of the solution. His wisdom and strength are at your disposal. But you will never be able to take hold of them if you are still clutching onto virtual idols. That only hinders communion.

If you are failing to connect, there is probably a reason. It’s most likely a heart issue. While every Christian may say they want God in their life. We don’t always want him to BE God in our life. Our selfish egos would rather have a genie that just fulfills our wishes. Make all our problems go away without effort, rather than face and deal with them. This attitude indicates a lack of humility and repentance, which limits communion.

To carry on with the house analogy. Say you have $50,000 set aside to upgrade your kitchen. Yet in the process of that renovation, you discover electrical and plumbing issues. At that point, you have a choice to make. Spend the money to fix the things that are not seen, meaning you will have to get less expensive finishes to complete the remodel. Or you can just ignore them so you can use the finest materials to impress your friends and family. Then hope those neglected issues don’t come back to haunt you later. But I’m not really talking about home improvement. I’m talking about our hearts, the dwelling place for our spirits. This means we can choose to face the issues revealed by our communion with God, or just pretend we didn’t see anything so we can keep living as we always have. As we fake genuine righteousness of course.

In short, these ideas of conviction and repentance are not merely God laying down the law and wielding his authority over us in judgment. Looking at it that way is likely why we whitewash over the mold in the bathroom because we didn’t replace the proverbial exhaust fan that failed a few years back. Rather, it’s about cultivating greater levels of communion. In the end, God will not commune with darkness after all. Yet, greater levels of communion lead to greater wholeness, greater wholeness leads to greater righteousness, and greater righteousness leads to being set apart for greater purposes in the kingdom of God. That leads to spiritual prosperity. None of that will happen though if we are ashamed to answer the door when Jesus comes knocking, because our soul is too cluttered and run down to make room for him.

The Visual PARABLEist

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” -Psalms 139:23-24

“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.” -Psalms 32:3-5