We started, of course, working through the letters to the seven churches of Asia at the start of Revelation. Most of these letters follow a commendation-then-criticism formula. Things the churches are doing well are mentioned and praised, and then a turn is made to raise some concerns: "But this I have against you..."
The very first letter is addressed to the church at Ephesus. The church is praised for their fidelity to sound teaching and for their endurance facing hardship. After these commendations, the turn is made to raise the very famous concern:
But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love.
The imagery is romantic. Commentators note that the word "abandoned" is strong here, and was used in the ancient world to describe divorce. We were once deeply, passionately in love, but now those feelings are gone.
I find this fascinating given the praise heaped upon the church at Ephesus. Doctrinally, they were solid. They were also doggedly faithful in the face of hardships and trails. And yet, Christ raises an affectional concern, a romantic concern. Some passionate aspect of faith had been lost and needs to be restored.
Why?
Perhaps doctrinal fidelity and loyalty become brittle and fragile without a romantic aspect. When faith becomes cognitive and behavioral it becomes susceptible to cracking. Passion is needed to ground and root faith to make it sustainable for the long obedience.
Perhaps doctrinal fidelity and loyalty curdle without a romantic aspect. Without love, the Christians life becomes a grim puritanical grind. Unsmiling and moralistic. We are dutiful and loyal, but joyless.
I think both of these are true, but the point to note here is how the call to return to their first love wasn't made to a bunch of lukewarm backsliders like the church of Laodicea. As I've shared, the church at Ephesus was solid, both loyal and doctrinally sound. And yet, some affective aspect of the faith had been lost, some passion had cooled.
Faith, it seems, has to remain a romantic affair.
