4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
Revelation 2:4-5 (ESV)
George Marsden has defined the fundamentalist as “an evangelical who is angry about something.”1 It’s a putdown of a sort from a scholar keen on evangelical serenity. One could justifiably retort that anyone not angry at the current situation is just not paying attention and that this description would make fundamentalists of Jesus, who cast the moneychangers from the temple (Matt. 21:12), and Paul, who condemned Galatian Judaizers in the harshest terms (Gal. 5:12). But Marsden’s definition suggests an important point, similar to one Paul makes in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3: without love, prophetic powers, spiritual discernment, faith, and even martyrdom gain nothing.
The Ephesian Christians were sturdy, doctrinal, and ethical warriors. Jesus praised them for shunning those who were evil, for exposing false apostles, and for hating the works of the Nicolaitans (vv. 2-6). He knew these believers lived in an alternately hostile and seductive environment, and for this reason, their endurance was notable (v. 3). After all, Ephesus, which accommodated the temple to the pagan fertility goddess Artemis, had also achieved prominence as a place of emperor worship and further acted as a gathering place for practitioners of the dark magical arts.
But despite their evident seriousness in matters theological, the Ephesians had missed a critical element in their witness—love. When a scribe asked Jesus what commandment was most important, He answered that men must love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and that they must love their neighbors as themselves (Mark 12:29-31). Both commandments were centered on love, a love the Ephesians once enjoyed when they were filled with the Spirit. But somewhere in the war, they had lost that basic love.
The Ephesians were told, “Repent and do the works you did at first” (v. 5). These works were saturated with love for God, love for the brethren, and love for the lost. By shrinking from them, the church had fallen from its height. Their cold-hearted behavior had ruined their witness to the pagans surrounding them in Ephesus.
“Look out for yourself. Nobody else will.” People live and die by this creed. Loneliness, cynicism, self-absorption, and bitterness characterize today’s society. Charity work and church participation decline. The average person fears that even his best friend will backstab him on the job.
God’s people must stand in startling contrast to these trends. But a callous and petty spirit often robs the Church of her witness. So the warning comes to her across the ages: in all you say and do, love God and your neighbor, or Christ will remove your lampstand.
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Endnotes
1 George M. Marsden, Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991), 1.
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