The expression “The good, the bad, the ugly” is widely used in our culture. It originated from a movie by this title released in 1966. There were three characters starring in it with each having one of the distinct personality traits found in the title. Over the next few weeks, we will use this approach to look at churches in the first century.
The church at Ephesus: the good. It was established by Paul on his third missionary journey and became the center of the evangelizing of the Roman province of Asia.
Paul preached in this city longer than in any other place he lived and during that time all of Asia heard the gospel (Acts 19:10). Later Timothy came to the city to continue the work as it grew. In the book of Acts, we read Paul’s conversation with the elders of this great church. There is so much good in those early years of this congregation.
In the book of Revelation, more good can be found, when John writes to them from the island of Patmos. Paul had told those elders that after he left false teachers, some from within the congregation and others from without, would enter the church to destroy it. When John writes to them, it was obvious how seriously that eldership had taken Paul’s words. There were some who were claiming they were apostles, and the elders and the church realized this and did not allow these false teachers to harm the church. John said that their labors to stand for the truth in this way continued and they had not become weary in doing this (Rev. 2:3). Then there were other false teachers who brought in the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, and both the church and the Lord hated this doctrine (2:6).
Ephesus: the bad. Things were not all good in this church because a serious problem had developed. It is a problem that often develops in both preachers and churches. Their focus had been so centered on dealing with error that the love they once had for the Lord was not what it once was. John said they had left their first love, but this does not mean they had turned against Jesus who they loved. Leaving your first love simply means that they had forgotten how much they loved Jesus at first. That had greatly diminished.
Ephesus: the ugly. How serious is that when it happens to a church? The answer to this is the “ugly” of this church. Tongues minus love, prophecies minus love and knowledge minus love are often just noise like a clanging cymbal (1 Cor. 13). So is standing for the truth minus taking seriously what Jesus said lay in this church’s future: “I will come and remove your candlestick” (3:5). Keeping this love will lead to eating from the tree of life. Another church next week.