Decoding Laodicea
I Stand Outside
by
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Listen! I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears My voice and opens the door I will come into his home and share a meal with him, and he with Me. – Revelation 3:20 (NET)
This verse, reported by the Apostle John to have been spoken to him by the risen Jesus in the course of a dictation of seven letters to seven churches within Asia Minor, is most certainly an oft-quoted verse. When we read or hear this, our first response is that which we have been conditioned to have through the evangelistic preaching of the existential choice of an eternity in either heaven or hell. The mental image that is conjured, by the aid of centuries of Christian art, has Jesus standing at the door of our hearts, asking for us to open the door so that He might come into to said hearts, so that we might be “saved.” In this sense, being “saved,” in popular understanding, means being able to go to heaven when we die rather than going to hell, and it carries with it the connotation that we now must live according to a pattern of moral precepts that will constitute holiness for us.
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About the Book
A letter to a church is not a letter to a building, but rather, a letter to a
group of believers. Those believers comprise the body of a congregation
that is a part of the larger body of the church, which is the visible
body and representation of the Lord Jesus in the world. When that is
understood, the idea that these words can be lifted out of their context
as some type of offer to somebody that does not know Jesus becomes
an absurdity. To use common, religious terminology, these words about
standing at the door and knocking are not directed to somebody that is
not “saved.” These words of knocking are to a church.
About the Author
David Byrd, of Litchfield Park, Arizona, is a father of five and grandfather
of 3. He holds a BA in Philosophy and Religion from Wabash College
and has been inspired in the construction of his Scripture commentary by
the work of N.T. Wright, William Placher, John Walton, Stephen Webb,
Richard Hays, John Crossan, and Hal Taussig, among others. He has
served as a visiting professor to Emmanuel Theological Seminary, is an
entrepreneur with a wide range of experience in hospitality, media, public
relations, business development, and pastoral work. David also serves on
the board of Hopegivers International and is a motorsports enthusiast.