Helena and Hermia are friends. At least, they were friends—until Hermia’s lover Lysander succumbed to a special love juice applied to his eyes while he was asleep, which transferred his feelings to Helena, who loved Demetrius. It was a love triangle fitting of and designed by Shakespeare’s pen.
As a result, the audience of “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” is treated to a complex sequence of passion-driven events, anchored by a verbal catfight between the two contentious young ladies. In a poignant summary statement of Hermia’s character and diminutive stature, her former friend and chief rival declares, “And though she be but little, she is fierce.”
The same could be said about the church in Philadelphia.
The Christians in Philadelphia had a very different reputation than their compatriots in Sardis. They did not have a large, influential church. However, they received a promise of victory because they possessed something superior to well-designed programs: they had faithfulness. The folks in Philadelphia persevered, even when things were tough.
As He did to each of the other churches in Revelation, Jesus announced, “I know your works.” However, He had nothing bad to say about those works. Although the Philadelphians had but a “little strength,” they had kept His commands and refused to deny His name (Rev. 3:8).
The church in Philadelphia was not the biggest, riches, or most influential. So what. They were faithful, and that’s what Jesus wanted. So, He offered them a reward. For now, they would have to continue to deal with their enemies—those of “the synagogue of Satan.” However, the day of their vindication would soon arrive, when their enemies would fall prostrate at their feet. Additionally, He will give them the permanent gift of eternal life in the New Jerusalem. It doesn’t get much better than that, does it?
Not only did Jesus refuse to condemn the folks in Philadelphia, but He gave them just one command, which really was more of an encouragement: keep it up!
Like the church members in Sardis, we tend to assume that big and popular is best. However, Jesus had only compliments for the struggling little church in Philadelphia. We can sum up Jesus’ opinion of the church in Philadelphia in the words of Shakespeare: “Though she be but little, she is fierce.”
Maybe all the sleek programs and promotions don’t matter so much to God. Maybe faithfulness is where it’s at.
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