The Conviction of Lost Love
Despite all the good works, labors of love, great patience, endurance, courage and righteous living the church in Ephesus was known for, the all-seeing eye of God still revealed where they were failing. Christ had to point it out in this way:
‘…I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love’ (Revelation 2:4).
The body of Christ in Ephesus abided in Christ but not perfectly. As the Bridegroom of Christ Jesus, they were supposed to remain pure, but at some point, they abandoned the heat and warmth of their first love. They became mechanical without affection and love. Perhaps, they had ministers and leaders who enticed them or exalted some doctrines above the Word of God. Instead of remaining steadfast in prayer and sound doctrine, they could have focused more on other things like mode of dressing, tithing, seed sowing, prosperity, deliverance, dancing, etc., and abandoned the weightier matters of the Word. Jesus had to rebuke the Pharisees and Scribes for the same offense.
‘Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint, anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone’ (Mathew 23:23).
For that reason, when you uphold one way of life far above core Christian life and values, you may eventually end up practicing witchcraft without knowing it. It is better to embrace the fruits of the Spirit above other things. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23).
The Pitfalls of Mechanical Religion
Obviously, the Christians in Ephesus prophesied, manifested God’s gift, sang very well, and preached well and eloquently defended their faith. Yet, if you could relate with some of them closely, you would have seen the presence of greed, pride, immorality, finance mismanagement, jealousy, covetousness, anger and unfaithfulness in families. With fervency in their evangelism, deliverances, exploits, victory over goddess Diana and demolition of evil forces, the church in Ephesus still lacked genuine love for Christ. That was tragic because no matter the number of demons you cast out or testimonies of prosperity you share, you are absolutely nothing without love. No matter your achievements, exploits, crowd, boldness and kingdoms you have conquered, if you lack true love, you are under condemnation. Lord Jesus told the church in Ephesus that He has something against them. Your members, family and those who sing your praise may not tell you the truth but Christ will. Without true love for Christ, you break His heart. You may be the best deliverance minister that even terrifies the devil, but if you do not have love, you amount to nothing before God. You may be generous, good and gifted but if you are tribal, practice selective judgment, favor your tribe’s people, give only them big branches and hate others, you fall out of God’s love.
Here are some verses that speak strongly about love and how God feels about it –
‘Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown’ (Jeremiah 2:2).
‘And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold’ (Mathew 24:12).
‘Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith’ (1Timothy 5:12).
True Love in Ministry
Pure love does not discriminate or practice partiality in God’s kingdom. When the Ephesians received Christ through the ministry of Paul, their love was pure, undefiled without discrimination or partial. However, by the time they received this letter, it has gone down, polluted and unfit for eternity. The forces and bombardment of iniquity has affected their love for Christ.
Pressures of life and love of things of this world can make a onetime super Christian to cast off his first love. By the time the church in Ephesus received the letter from Christ, their love for Him was weak. Remember these Christians pulled goddess Diana down. They had true and ordained ministers who challenged the evil, destroyed aggressive altars, dealt with unrepentant witches and wizards and frustrated demons on suicide missions.
Christians at Ephesus were part of few churches in Asia that blocked Nicolaitans, rejected their wayward and immoral lifestyle. They fought against coming to church naked or dressing like Jezebel. They conducted deliverances and cast out violent demons yet they fell out of love with their Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. They became greedy, covetous, immoral and robbed God.
Jesus values every other thing you do for Him and others but your love for Him must not diminish. One of the evidences of true love for Christ is feeding His sheep. Thrice, Jesus said to Peter, ‘Do you love me? Feed my sheep’ (see John 21:15-17). The primary duty of a shepherd is to feed the sheep. It is very unfortunate that many people in the ministry today are not feeding the sheep and the reason is because they have no love for Christ. They are in ministry to feed themselves, their families and friends. It is written,
‘We love Him, because He first loved us. If a man says, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from Him, That he who loveth God love his brother also’ (1John 4:19-21).
Some ministers feed Christ’s sheep outside the will of God and purpose. That cannot be counted as obedience to Christ. For instance, Simon Peter led the sheep, the people he converted to Christ. He loved Christ, answered God’s call, oversaw the sheep Christ left behind but he had no idea of what kind of food to feed them. His major concern was to feed the sheep with physical food. That was why he went back to his occupation immediately after Jesus died.
‘Simon Peter said unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing’ (John 21:3).
Many general overseers, church founders, bishops, etc., are feeding Christ’s sheep outside the will and purpose of God. They feed the sheep with physical food of false doctrines, loose living, envy, jealousy, division and all manner of lies in other to keep them in their fellowship. Out of envy, they abandon their calling and preach against other ministers. They influence their members to hate and fight fellow believers. That is not the love of Christ. Carnally minded ministers preach against deliverance, sanctification, warfare, mode of dressing, etc., yet they cannot solve problems plaguing the body of Christ. Their members toil all night and day and through life without tangible progress.
‘There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing’ (John 21:2-3).
If your church fails to make real spiritual exploits, handle effectively challenges church members face and produce successful members with Christian characters, then you may need to examine whether your love for Christ is genuine. And if your so-called ministry lures members to sin or causes your pastors to commit immorality, become God’s enemies by breaking His commandments and harm their relationship with God and others, your love is defiled.
A general overseer of a church where pastors, ministers and members hate, fight and kill each other, misappropriate church funds, practice witchcraft, patronize demonized godfathers is not feeding the lamb of Christ. A great deliverance ministry with great testimonies but without truly converted leaders and members is not a right place to feed the lambs of Christ. You may have one million branches and uncountable millionaire members but if they are not born-again, you are not feeding Christ’s lambs. In your ministry, if your efforts are not labors of love, then they do not worth anything. It is written:
‘Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing’ (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
Some leaders are into deliverance ministry, while others are in prosperity ministry. There are yet others in holiness ministry. However, whatever your ministry espouses, if it cannot penetrate the human soul to bring conversion and prepare members for heaven, you may be feeding lambs that are not Christ’s. Jesus convicted the church at Ephesus because though they conquered demons and overcame poverty and evil powers that kept good things from them, they abandoned their first love.
You may speak eloquently, operate with nine gifts of the spirit, learn how to preach, teach and present the truth of God convincingly, but if you do not have love, you are yet to start your ministry and journey with Christ. If you have love in your heart, opposition, gossipers or enemies cannot push you against God. If you have God’s love, your reaction, manner of approach when provoked, angered, hated or crushed will not push you to sin against God. True love destroys envy, jealousy, pride, self-exaltation, self-praise, bragging or boasting. True love does not give room for rudeness. It is not ill-mannered or disorderly. True love considers others first. It seeks for the happiness of others and not self-centered. That was what Christ discovered in the lives of the Christians at Ephesus and condemned it. If you are the type that pursues things by all means necessary and at all cost, you may get whatever you are pursuing but God’s love will not and can never rest upon it. But if you must pursue anything at all cost, then ‘…covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way’ (1 Corinthians 12:31). You cannot give the greatest the position of the greater. Christ is the love that God gave to us and He must be recognized and given the right place in our lives. God commanded us to love the Lord with all our minds, hearts and strength, and we must obey.