Are you vacationing in Las Vegas or Laodicea this year?

Last year I received a glossy brochure from an Evangelical Christian school raising funds through a silent auction. The grand prize was a weekend in Las Vegas! Last week I received a sleek brochure from an international radio ministry, announcing a Caribbean cruise. While the brochure, replete with children on water slides, young adults windsurfing, diners dressed in tuxedos, was aimed at those with discretionary income, it seemed oddly out of touch with the mood of the day.

Trips to Las Vegas? Caribbean cruises? Didn't Jesus become poor for our sake? (2 Co 8:9).  Didn't He model austerity? I have no doubt these ministries mean well. But I keep thinking the words “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?” (Gal. 3:1).

Might I be so bold to suggest that our ‘first-class’ lifestyles are uncomfortably close to those described of the church at Laodicea: “You say, 'I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (Rev. 3:17). I know these are harsh words. But these are harsh times, as Thomas Paine said, “these are the times that test men’s souls.” Many believe a time of great testing is about to come upon the church.