From the Church in Sardis we see two truths about reputation:
1. It is possible for people’s perception to be inaccurate.
2. It is also possible for us to be more concerned with our reputation than our reality.
The church at Sardis may look alive (reputation), but they are spiritually dead (reality). People may be fooled, but Christ always sees the truth. Their reputation is good because they get along with everyone. But Christ hasn’t called His church to befriend the world… we are called to save the world from Hell by lovingly sharing the truth of the Gospel. You can’t save people from Hell, if you can’t tell them that they are wrong. Sardis reveals that we all just get along and simultaneously be what we’re supposed to be.