Affluence and Spiritual Blindness: Lessons from Laodicea and Smyrna (Revelation Series)

Voxology

Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2023

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Exploring how recognizing spiritual poverty amidst material wealth can awaken the church from complacency, Mike Erre and Tim Stafford dive deep into the contrasting messages to the churches of Smyrna and Laodicea in Revelation. They examine the dangers of lukewarm faith, affluence, and the lack of contrast between the church and the surrounding culture, urging us to self-examine and rediscover true dependency on Jesus.

Key Takeaways:

• Contrasting Smyrna and Laodicea – Understanding how one church was materially poor yet spiritually rich, and the other materially rich yet spiritually poor, and what this contrast teaches us today.

• The Metaphor of Lukewarm Faith – Unpacking the meaning behind hot, cold, and lukewarm in the context of Laodicea's water supply, and how it reflects spiritual complacency.

• Affluence Leading to Spiritual Blindness – Discussing how material wealth can create self-sufficiency that excludes Jesus from the church, paralleling modern challenges.

• Money, Sex, and Power – Examining how these forces intertwine and affect the church's ability to offer a counter-narrative to prevailing cultural norms.

• Awakening to Dependency on Jesus – Encouraging listeners to self-examine and repent where affluence and comfort have blinded us to our need for God.

Guest Highlights:

Seth Erre – Makes a special appearance, bringing his unique energy and contributing to the conversation.

Resources Mentioned:

• Revelation 2:8-11 – The Letter to the Church in Smyrna.

• Revelation 3:14-22 – The Letter to the Church in Laodicea.

• "The Market as God" by Harvey Cox – Insights on how the market functions as a religious system in modern culture.

As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram.

We're on YouTube (if you're into that kinda thing): VOXOLOGY TV.

Our Merch Store! ETSY

Learn more about the Voxology Podcast

Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify

Support the Voxology Podcast on Patreon

The Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology Radio

Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre

Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford

Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram.

We're on YouTube (if you're into that kinda thing): VOXOLOGY TV.

Our Merch Store! ETSY

Learn more about the Voxology Podcast

Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify

Support the Voxology Podcast on Patreon

The Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology Radio

Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre

Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford

Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	messing around today.
0:02.6	No rambling.
0:04.1	Yeah.
0:05.4	Hey, everybody.
0:07.1	Welcome to another exciting, thrilling edition of the Voxology podcast.
0:11.6	Mike and Tim here.
0:12.7	And ladies and gentlemen, I have to tell you, we are, we're playing hurt today.
0:17.9	The podcast demands that, you know, we put out high quality episodes weekly. And I think
0:30.5	we would all agree we put out high quality episodes monthly. But we release episodes weekly.
0:37.2	And today is one of those days where because of a fluke, But we release episodes weekly.
0:43.9	And today is one of those days where because of a fluke in the vacation scheduling,
0:49.6	Tim Stafford arrived last night from Las Vegas.
0:50.5	Vegas, baby.
0:52.8	And what time did you get in?
0:57.2	I mean, not too late. I got home like five or six.
1:04.3	Okay. But we had to get him up super early because the Erie family is leaving this morning for the airport. And so we're recording. I just want you to know, Tim. I mean, Tim spent,
1:10.5	what, three days in Las Vegas.
1:13.1	Here he is. It's six of the morning his time. It's eight in the morning, my time. Both of which
1:18.9	times are not our prime times. No. And, and so I just, I want to let you know that we're thrilled to be here and it's okay if you turn
1:31.8	this off 10 minutes from now.
1:34.2	I don't know.
1:35.2	Yeah.
	...

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