An Eighth Letter to the Church

What if Jesus Christ wrote an eighth letter to the church? What if the Lord wrote a personal letter to me and you? What would He say to us?

I get nervous thinking about it.

Every once in a while I read through the Seven Letters to the Seven Churches portion of the Book of Revelation. I’m sure I need to do it more frequently. Some of the issues the churches of Asia Minor faced were local and specific to them at the time. However, the lessons always apply; in many ways, perhaps more so today.

Our first love

I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. Rev 2:2-3

But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Rev 2:4

John MacArthur wrote a modern application commentary on the Seven Letters – Christ’s Call to Reform the Church, which I recommend. He informs us that the Ephesians’ first love was Christ, and the deeds on verse 5 relate to our love for Him. MacArthur says the message us clear, that the Lord is saying: “Turn back. Do not abandon Me.”

Has the church today left its First Love? What about you and me?

Good deeds, politics and “social justice”

If Christ wrote an eighth letter to the modern church, what might he say? MacArthur noted that,

[The church] needs to understand that God has not called His people out of the world simply to wage a culture war with the world…The push for cultural morality or even social justice is a dangerous distraction from the work of the church. (Emphasis mine)

Political and social justice efforts are, at best, short-term, external solutions for society’s moral ills, and they do nothing to address the personal, internal, dominant matter of sinful hearts that hate God (see Rom 8:7), and can be rescued from eternal death only by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I’m neither a pastor nor a theologian. Take everything I say and write with a large grain of salt. My take on this is that we can’t shove Christian morals or salvation down peoples’ throats. This doesn’t mean that believers shouldn’t affect the culture, but that any influence ought to be focused through preaching God’s Word and Jesus Christ.

On the flip side, our culture is influencing churches today. Some evangelical leaders are accommodating certain sins while bending the knee to social justice machinations. Others have been seduced and compromised. Not only have some (not all) lost their first love, they’ve misplaced their spines!

Personal lives

I’d dread a personal letter from Jesus Christ: “These things I have against you, Alf….” What might the Lord say to you? I bet there will be many parallels. I bet the Lord would mention our first love. Our issues will be centered on that.

How many idols have I set before me? How often do I skip or rush through prayer and devotions? How often am I distracted while singing worship songs? Do I habitually accommodate evil thoughts? Do I love the Lord my God with all my heart and soul and strength?

Do I rail against my neighbors and enemies? Do I have a heart for the lost? And so on…

The Lord loves us and He is our prayerful High Priest. He will complete His work in us (Phil 1:6). Nevertheless, remember this admonition,

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent. Rev 3:19

I think it’s a good thing to take stock of our spiritual condition once in a while.

Maranatha!