To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolatians, which I also hate.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’ Revelation 2:1-7
I shared in the last devotional that success in ministry is not the only factor in determining our love for God. There are more factors that we need to pay attention to in order to not veer off of our intimacy with Christ.
Comfort Breeds Self-Confidence
The scripture states, “Remember therefore from where you have fallen”. This statement implies that at one point the church was at a right place, but they fell from that place.
We generally are surprised by the fall of leaders because we look at their activities and presume that they must love God passionately. How can one be so zealous and self-sacrificial and not still be in love with God!?
For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7b
If we have walked with Jesus for any length of time, our vocabulary has been perfected in sounding mature and passionate, but it doesn’t mean that our heart is still as close to the Lord as it once was before. Giving lip service to truth is a lot easier than you might think!
The Lord does not look at the outward appearance; He looks at our hearts. The appearance in this case is our works. Our good works can look very good but internally our heart can grow distant from the Lord.The fall of an individual especially a leader is never a sudden event, but it is an incremental step by step compromise in walking away from the Lord!
What is the anatomy of a fall? Individuals can get comfortable with their spiritual state because of what they do in ministry. Their Bible knowledge can give them an aura of confidence and being untouchable. People begin to depend on them more and they begin to depend less on the Lord! They start spending more time in ministry but less time in His presence. They discern everyone else’s spirits but can’t recognize their own. Individuals can pride themselves in having the authority to judge others’ spirituality, but there is no one to judge theirs.
There is also a danger for those who are on the payroll of a ministry for being honest about their issues. It might be difficult for them to admit they are struggling or need help in fear of losing their job. As a result, they can keep an appearance of spirituality but inwardly they are quietly wasting away!
When one’s gauge of intimacy is their works, they are going down a wrong path! All of the above factors are a set up for a falling away. They all cause a person/church to move from the condition of dependence on the Lord to self-confidence!
We have seen too many “falls” in the landscape of the body of Christ. A church can do well for years, and then suddenly we hear the implosion of a leader or a church. Beloved, as people of God, we can learn much from other’s failures if we take the time to understand the elements that led to the fall.