The Letter to Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7)
Each of the seven letters to the churches contain a description of Christ as the source of the message, a description referring back to the vision that John had had of Christ on Patmos. In each of the letters, the description could be seen as relating to the church being addressed. Here, in the case of Ephesus, we see Christ as present amongst the churches, holding their messengers—and by extension the Message—in His hands. Christ is in charge of His churches, and He holds the truth. At the end of each letter, there is a promise as well. It is the same basic promise in each case—endurance through persecution will lead to reward.
Each of the letters tends to follow a “good news, bad news” format. Christ sees something commendable in most of the churches, but He also has something that He wants to see changed.
The Positive in Ephesus: (2:2,3)
Christ commends the church in Ephesus for its hard work and the fact that it does not give up. It holds fast to sound teaching and does not accept men’s teaching without testing it with Scripture. They remind us of the Bereans who tested all of Paul’s preaching with the Word and found it to be true. They are a model church. They probably had the biggest Sunday School and the best outreach programs. They did not fail to respond to all the opportunities that God presented them with. They knew the Truth and they defended and proclaimed it.
But: The Problem…(2:4,5)
The church at Ephesus had one fault. Christ commended them for their work, but He condemned them for their lack of passion. They had lost their first love. Being a church without passion did not mean they had lost their passion for doing church; they had not lost their purpose. They were passionate about doing the things churches do. Christ had just pointed that out in the previous statement. They met, they studied, they visited, and they went through all the motions. In fact, if the description of the church is accurate, then they were probably doing everything needed for a church to grow.
The problem is that while they were passionate about church, they had lost their passion for God; their love and amazement for the Gospel. A church can spin their wheels all they want and do all sorts of good for the Kingdom, but if they do not have a passion for Gospel and knowing God more and more, they will be working in vain. Our primary purpose as creatures is to worship God and glorify Him. If we are doing anything other than that we have lost our purpose.
So many churches and believers are content with a most basic understanding of the Gospel. They get the gist of it and never consider it again. Instead, we ought to consider it anew every day. We ought to discover new ways the Gospel impacts and changes our lives. Doing that, we fall in love with this amazing news every day like the first time we encountered it. When we have that kind of love and appreciation for what Christ has done for us, our ministry in the world will be passionate in the way that Christ wanted the Ephesian church to be.
‘Dead Poets Society’
In the 1989 movie “Dead Poets Society”, the viewer is presented with a perfect picture of the Ephesian Church. The movie takes place in a school by the name of Welton Academy in the 1950’s. Welton is a High School boarding school; the “best preparatory school in the country.” It is a model school with the majority of its graduates going on to Ivy League colleges.
The problem with Welton is that it is full of boys who have been dehumanized. They have parents who don’t care for them; who want them to grow up as perfect replicas of themselves. The boys are deprived of the most basic human right; the ability to have dreams and aspirations for themselves. They are deprived of a passion for life.
In the movie, the boys are given this passion in the classes of a new English professor. He shows them what it is like to dream, to aspire to doing something great in life. In one of classes he tells the boys the importance of passion.
A Christian version of this quote would be:
“Evangelism, Bible Study, Sermons, and teaching Sunday School, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain the Church. But knowing God, becoming more like Christ, and loving each other these are what we have Church for.”
Christ tells the Church in Ephesus that without a passion for God it will soon cease to exist in spite of all its work.
The Balance.(2:6)
Work is not bad, and passion is necessary, but a balance is required. When passionate worship is the central focus of a church, the doctrinal balance can be lost. This has been evidenced countless times as churches get so caught up in emotions that they forget to check themselves regularly with the Bible. Christ reminds the church not to be like the Nicoliations. We are not sure who these people were, but it seems clear that they gave in to bad practices that were associated with the worship of false gods in Ephesus. In worship, truth must be practiced above all else.
Each of the letters tends to follow a “good news, bad news” format. Christ sees something commendable in most of the churches, but He also has something that He wants to see changed.
The Positive in Ephesus: (2:2,3)
Christ commends the church in Ephesus for its hard work and the fact that it does not give up. It holds fast to sound teaching and does not accept men’s teaching without testing it with Scripture. They remind us of the Bereans who tested all of Paul’s preaching with the Word and found it to be true. They are a model church. They probably had the biggest Sunday School and the best outreach programs. They did not fail to respond to all the opportunities that God presented them with. They knew the Truth and they defended and proclaimed it.
But: The Problem…(2:4,5)
The church at Ephesus had one fault. Christ commended them for their work, but He condemned them for their lack of passion. They had lost their first love. Being a church without passion did not mean they had lost their passion for doing church; they had not lost their purpose. They were passionate about doing the things churches do. Christ had just pointed that out in the previous statement. They met, they studied, they visited, and they went through all the motions. In fact, if the description of the church is accurate, then they were probably doing everything needed for a church to grow.
The problem is that while they were passionate about church, they had lost their passion for God; their love and amazement for the Gospel. A church can spin their wheels all they want and do all sorts of good for the Kingdom, but if they do not have a passion for Gospel and knowing God more and more, they will be working in vain. Our primary purpose as creatures is to worship God and glorify Him. If we are doing anything other than that we have lost our purpose.
So many churches and believers are content with a most basic understanding of the Gospel. They get the gist of it and never consider it again. Instead, we ought to consider it anew every day. We ought to discover new ways the Gospel impacts and changes our lives. Doing that, we fall in love with this amazing news every day like the first time we encountered it. When we have that kind of love and appreciation for what Christ has done for us, our ministry in the world will be passionate in the way that Christ wanted the Ephesian church to be.
‘Dead Poets Society’
In the 1989 movie “Dead Poets Society”, the viewer is presented with a perfect picture of the Ephesian Church. The movie takes place in a school by the name of Welton Academy in the 1950’s. Welton is a High School boarding school; the “best preparatory school in the country.” It is a model school with the majority of its graduates going on to Ivy League colleges.
The problem with Welton is that it is full of boys who have been dehumanized. They have parents who don’t care for them; who want them to grow up as perfect replicas of themselves. The boys are deprived of the most basic human right; the ability to have dreams and aspirations for themselves. They are deprived of a passion for life.
In the movie, the boys are given this passion in the classes of a new English professor. He shows them what it is like to dream, to aspire to doing something great in life. In one of classes he tells the boys the importance of passion.
“We don’t read and write poetry because it is cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, ‘O me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless—of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life? Answer. That you are here – that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.’ That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”
A Christian version of this quote would be:
“Evangelism, Bible Study, Sermons, and teaching Sunday School, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain the Church. But knowing God, becoming more like Christ, and loving each other these are what we have Church for.”
Christ tells the Church in Ephesus that without a passion for God it will soon cease to exist in spite of all its work.
The Balance.(2:6)
Work is not bad, and passion is necessary, but a balance is required. When passionate worship is the central focus of a church, the doctrinal balance can be lost. This has been evidenced countless times as churches get so caught up in emotions that they forget to check themselves regularly with the Bible. Christ reminds the church not to be like the Nicoliations. We are not sure who these people were, but it seems clear that they gave in to bad practices that were associated with the worship of false gods in Ephesus. In worship, truth must be practiced above all else.
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