YOU HAVE FORSAKEN THE LOVE YOU HAD AT FIRST
Revelation 2:1-7
“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance.”
Hard work, hardships, perseverance, careful attention to right behaviour, right values, right teaching. These are what characterise the church in Ephesus. They are not wrong, nor are these things bad. In fact, Jesus commends them.
Yet when you read the description of the first church, in Acts 2, you will see that they are a far cry from that church:
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
The church in Acts 2 was filled with awe, love, gladness, sincerity, praise and worship. You can feel the life throbbing. At the heart of it is the love they had for one another, so much so they spent much time with each other and with God with “glad and sincere hearts”. People on the outside were drawn to them.
Every church is made up of different individuals and they are not alike. But the foundation of every church must surely be the same: the love and forgiveness that we receive from Jesus, and the love and forgiveness we impart to each other, as Jesus commands us.
The church in Ephesus had focused on right behaviour, right values, right teaching, and along the way lost sight of love and forgiveness, the key qualities of the life that Jesus gives. As you read Jesus’ description, you feel the absence of joy and love, of fellowship and unity, of gladness and sincerity. This life, founded on love and forgiveness, is not optional; it is central.
As a lampstand, the church is to carry the light of Jesus to all around. But if that light is not the true light, then it is not worthy to be a lampstand.
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)