Bad News

Nevertheless I have somewhat against you, because you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you are fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto you quickly, and will remove your lampstand out of its place, except you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. (Rev 2:4-6 KJ2000)


"A man always wants to be a woman's first love;  a woman always wants to be a man's last."  Or so I am told;  the only way to satisfy both, evidently, is for both to cling to their first love.
My parents did that.  They were married for over 57 years.  I once asked my father the secret of that longevity.

"Do you remember the movie Damn Yankees?"
    "Yeah,"

"Do you remember `Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets?'"
    "Yeah,"

"I married Lola."

Because he cared for her so much, and she loved him so much, they stayed together for life.  That's the picture Christ would like to draw of his marriage with the church—it is to be forever.  But sometimes, as here, the church forgets that first love.  Christ here draws the pattern for the restoration of the church:

Remember the height

So many Christians assume that a dull pain is the ordinary sensation of marriage—and Christianity.  It need not be so, if you will but remember.  Then ask yourself, "Who changed—me, or God?"  This is difficult for individuals;  it is very difficult for a church.  It is also most necessary.  Leadership is required to aim for the heights of God, not the flatlands of this world.

Repent

The word "repent" is now just a church word;  perhaps we should substitute "hang a U-turn."  Because that's what it means—a spiritual U-turn.  Turn around and go back to where you were.

Or else

Remember that our Lord is often pictured as a gardener.  He prunes the vines which bear good fruit, so that they will be even more fruitful.  But for those which cannot produce—or will not produce—he gives a short time of repentance.  Then he removes them.  You think not?  How many denominations, how many churches that were alive 50 or 100 years ago are now hollow shells?  Has their theology changed—or is it their love for Christ that has shifted?

It's a sad thing to see a marriage just going through the motions.  It is much worse to see a church doing that.