Right Things
“I know your deeds, your hard work, and your perseverance…Repent and do the things you did at first…He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”
Revelation 2v2, 5b, 7
In Jesus’ revelation to John, it’s easy to get caught up in future events, or in reflecting on Church history from then to now, or in the wild analogous language cover to cover. But something happened in chapters two and three, something that really personalizes the message. John recorded a handful of letters to scattered churches dictated to him by the First and the Last—Jesus.
I recommend reading all seven letters, but it’s the first letter we want to focus on.
The letter kicks off with a focus on the sender—Jesus. He is the one discerning the spiritual state of the church. It’s not that we aren’t able to observe local churches around us and then make a judgment call on their faithfulness to Christ. We can. We should. But we can also be wrong. Jesus can’t be wrong, so it’s important to keep in mind that Jesus is the evaluator, rebuker, challenger, and redeemer at the helm here.
The letter starts with a focus on Christ who then immediately reveals the positive characteristics of this particular church:
hard working
perseverant
refuse to tolerate wickedness
tested the faith of false apostles
persevered
endured hardships
not grown weary
Now that’s a list. This church works hard, refutes falsehood and wicked deeds, and perseveres in the face of suffering. If I didn’t know any better—if that’s all I’d heard about them—I would have assumed they were on the right track.
But Christ is the one who discerns the heart and mind beyond the actions. He knows the full story.
“You have forsaken your first love…Repent!”
After noting their strengths, their good deeds, and their righteous actions in the world, Christ pulls back the covers to reveal what’s really going on beneath it all. They look good from the outside like “white-washed tombs” but had withered on the inside.
“God is love,” said John in 1 John 4v8.
And love is “the most excellent way,” said Paul in 1 Corinthians 12v31b before diving into the most profound description of love.
And Jesus proclaimed that he is “the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” in John’s Gospel 14v6.
The church in Ephesus had forgotten Jesus—their first love. They had wandered from the way even while keeping with spiritual practices and ancient rituals and right living. They acted right without being right. And Jesus’ challenge to them, to this local church that appeared to have it all together, was to repent from their deadness and remember him in the fullness of their souls—their hearts, mind, body, and spirit.
In other words, they needed to come back to the heart of the Great Commandment.
So what about you?
In your disciplemaking rhythm, are you fleshing it out with a deep reliance on the Spirit and in adoration of Jesus? Or are you simply persevering in doing the right things?
This isn’t a call to stop acting out Christlikeness. It is a call to regularly check our hearts and attitudes so that our Christlike actions remain deeply interwoven with a Christlike spirit. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Let’s hear what the Spirit is saying to us. Let’s hear for the sake of paradise, not just for us, but for the disciples walking in our dust.
What one area of life will you do a spiritual wellness check-in? Who will you invite in for accountability in this? Afterward, how will you thank God for drawing you closer and helping you overcome your hardened heart?