Turkey, Day 3 - Restoring Identity

Day three friends! This was a big day for the larger narrative going on in our lives through this trip. We began our morning at a location known as Aphrodisias. This place is not mentioned in the Bible but had some deep biblical lessons for us. It is a large city in honor of the goddess Aphrodite. This place has all the elements of other sites we have visited thus far: the agora (shopping), a theater, lavish streets and all the Roman glamour you can expect of this area. And similar to before at other sites, we have to look at the story this place is trying to tell us. How are they trying to influence us? If we transport ourselves back to this place, we recognize that all the adorning and artwork in the stone and marble is try to tell us who we are, who to trust, and what to cherish. This is how art was used, and is still used actually. And in Roman times, this city was influencing the identity of its people through every detail of daily life.

As we looked at these beautiful handcrafted pieces of stone, and the story they tell, we looked at ourselves as well. Imagine standing in front of a mirror, and consider Ephesians 2:10 which says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” We are handcrafted. We are made with detail and purpose and unique design. And we can’t miss that it is — in His image — that we were created. God is the masterful artist who is calling us to walk in the works He created for us.

We made our way throughout Aphrodisias, making a few other stops, and ended our time in a stadium. We had seen a stadium before at a prior site, but not of this magnitude! This stadium was over 800 feet long and could seat around 30,000 people, making it one of the most well preserved and one of the largest stadiums of the ancient world. Understand that people in this Roman city used sport as a form of either escape, propaganda, and/or worship. We can do the same in our world. We elevate athletes and want to be like them. We want our kids to be like them. We communicate messages at these events that try to tell us who we are, who to trust, and what to cherish. And the victorious are celebrated in these arenas while the defeated feel shame and unworthiness. But as we look through the scope of Scripture, we see that we are all competitors in a different arena. We are running a race. Hebrews 12:1 says “...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” The course we are on has been individually designed for each one of us. It is not to be compared to another person’s course. It’s the race He has placed before me. So we faithfully commit to run the race He has given each one of us and to stay the course to the end. If we are weary or wounded or feeling disqualified, we may need to restore our identity and remember who He says we are, Who we are to trust, and what we are to cherish.

After Aphrodisias we traveled about two hours to the city of Philadelphia, which is number two on our trek through the early churches mentioned in Revelation. This was our first stop that was actually in a modernized city, so the footprint of this location was very small and surrounded by modern business and industry. Imagine ancient ruins within a 50-yard by 40-yard square plot. Even with cars and a small crowd listening in, we opened our Bibles and learned what God had for us at this location. If you compare the seven letters to the churches mentioned in Revelation, we see similarities, but we also see differences. They all have similar structure in the ways they are written, but address different things. For many years, Philadelphia faced hardship after hardship. After multiple earthquakes and half their vineyards being destroyed by edict from the governing authorities, the people of Philadelphia had changed the name of their city multiple times and changed their vocation and location. Talk about a struggle with identity! 

It is here that God meets them with this letter that commends them for being a church that He knows had little power but remained faithful and kept His Word. Even among all the ruins, rubble, and ash, this church was focused on the race set before them. Jesus promises this church that “the one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.” (Rev 3:12) Talk about restoring their identity! We learn that Jesus is not concerned with prestige. He is concerned with faithfulness. We were incredibly encouraged by today’s truths and recognize that the deeper narrative is developing over us through this land. We are moving to a new hotel today and are eager to settle in for the night and see what the Lord has for us tomorrow. Thank you all again for joining us on this journey!