When I was 16 we moved back to Florida during the summer. Within a matter of weeks we had found a church. One of the first things I saw on the bulletin board was summer camp coming up in a few weeks. When I inquired I was told it was a joint effort with another church in town as well as some down state. The next week I visited that church for the summer camp meeting. As I entered the parking lot, my jaw dropped at the massive modern buildings, the fleet of buses, and an endless parking lot full of cars. Upon meeting some of the members, I could feel the electricity in their voices and see the bounce in their step. They were on fire for God and baptisms were a part of almost every service. A number of years later, after college, the Marine Corps, and several children, I happened by the church’s location on a sales call. I was absolutely blown away by church’s state of disrepair, the empty, overgrown parking lot, and just the general appearance of malaise that covered the massive block and buildings.
Now, when I think about that church it reminds me of our first church in Revelation 2 — the Church at Ephesus. It too had been born in revival. In Acts 18–20, we read of how Paul came to Ephesus and preached for three months in the synagogue. Although Paul was opposed, God did a great work according to Acts 19:20: “So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed.” This Church was blessed with great pastors. Paul had been there for two years. Timothy followed Paul, and it is believed that the Apostle John himself followed Timothy. The members of this industrial city turned it upside down under the guidance of three men who knew God well and were focused on the heart of ministry.
With Paul as its leader, you know that they were extremely diligent, doctrinally correct, and hated anything that was not Godly. We know that they were boycotted by the merchants because of their faith causing untold grief and want. They avoided the Nicholaitanes (meaning “destroyer of the people”), false teachers, and kept their doctrine pure and maintained their focus on Christ. They became exemplary in their focus and maintained their position without waiver, despite the odds against them. Though that is more than respectable, it may have been that fixed mindset which became their undoing.
The Ephesians’ problem was that they lost the love normally accompanying an understanding of who Christ is and what He has done for us. My guess is that happened with John’s departure. Today that fixed mindset illustrates intolerance for those don’t read a specific Bible version, accept doctrine the way they do, and share the same theological interests! It’s sad because so much could be accomplished through a church like this with their scriptural knowledge if served with love. The Ephesians’ church illustrates how legalism can rob a person of the joy found in God’s loving grace. If Timothy had not been there after Paul, the letter to the Galatians might have been addressed to Ephesus.
Though many will not agree, as important as doctrine is, if we lose sight of Christ and the love we are to be identified with (John 13:35) in the process, we are in God’s disfavor. Remember this: “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8)
Love,
Dad