First Loves

The Message to the Church in Ephesus

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:
“I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.
“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.
“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.


There has been much in the news recently about the decline of the Christian Church. The recent Episcopal Church convention in which the delegates approved a rite to bless same-sex unions and the blessing of pets while voting down a proposal to proclaim Jesus as Lord is perhaps the worst example. But you don’t have to go to these extremes to see churches that have lost their way.

I was once an Episcopalian, and not just a pew sitter. I was a senior warden which is like an eldest elder. At one time the church I was a member of was the finest example of a new testament church I had ever seen and will probably ever see, but that group too lost its way. The forgot their first love and starting loving the idea of being a “special” group.

All kinds of churches, liberal and conservation, Protestant and Catholic, denominational and nondenominational are losing their way. They may not have strayed as far as the Episcopal national church, but they have strayed.

In every instance, the straying begins when they lose their first love, Jesus. That is quickly followed by the true sign of their discipleship, they stop loving each other. They can, at first, still nail the existence of heresy and evil in others, but they can’t see how they have drifted. Before they know it they too are lost in a sea of heresy, far from the gospel that saves.

The Gospel is about Jesus, the love He has for us that He proved on Calvary. The true church consists of those who respond to His love by turning away from evil, making Him Lord, and beginning the long, difficult, but the only rewarding path of following Him. Everything else is a waste.

The current state of the church is as predicted in the Book of Revelation. Our job isn’t to point out examples or shake our heads and complain, but to took in the mirror and make sure we’re the exception to what has become the rule.

Be blessed.

Nick

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