Dear Pastor (Part 2)

The first of these letters is to the pastor of the church at Ephesus, founded by the apostle Paul.  We gather from Paul's writings, as well as from the book of Acts, that the Ephesus church was a strong and thriving group of local believers.  So it's not surprising that this letter opens with high praise of its pastor.  

"I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted."

(Revelation 2:2-3)

This pastor is hardworking, thinks longterm, has zero-tolerance for posers, and shows great stamina.  So perhaps he/she may have been caught off guard a bit by the next statement.

"Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love."

(Revelation 2:4)

"First love."  For years, my understanding of this term was thrown off by my cultural referencing of it.  Every once in a while, I hear someone say something like, "I married my first love."  I know that they're probably referring to the first person they ever had romantic feelings for, perhaps a high school sweetheart.  With this as my reference point, I superimposed this understanding of "first love" over Revelation 2:4.  But it doesn't work.

From a chronological standpoint, spiritually speaking, our first love was the world, not Christ.  Obviously, the Lord wouldn't "have somewhat against" anyone for leaving the world.  So I took a closer look at "first love."

"First," from the Greek protos, meaning, firstly (in time, place, order, or importance).  Having already ruled out "firstly in time," I explored the alternatives.

A pastor friend of mine once said that, "the best commentary on scripture is scripture."  So I decided to see where else in scripture protos was used and in what context.  Here's what I found.

Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;

(Luke 20:46)

Both "highest" and "chief" in this verse are from the Greek protos.  These weren't the first seats you came to in the synagogue.  They were first in importance as it pertained to their occupants.  These weren't necessarily the first rooms you stepped into upon entering the house.  They were reserved for those distinguished few whose names appeared at the top of the guest list.

In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously.

(Acts 28:7)

"Chief" here is from protos.  Publius wasn't the first man to live on the island, but he was apparently the most prominent man living on the island.

"For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes:"

(Acts 24:5)

Here, "Ringleader" is from protos.  Paul isn't accused of being the first member of the sect of the Nazarenes, but rather of being a leader within the sect of the Nazarenes.

"But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him;"

(Luke 15:22)

"Best" here is also from protos.  The servants didn't grab the first robe they saw in the closet, but it was a first-class robe.

"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."

(I Timothy 1:15)

Again, "chief" here is from protos.  Obviously, Paul wasn't the first sinner, but as sinners go, he ranked himself at the top of the baddies list.

"...worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator..."

(Romans 1:25)

In this verse, "more" comes from protos.  The Samaritans of 2 Kings 17 who "feared the LORD, and served their own gods" come to mind.  They didn't understand that serving God meant "him only shalt thou serve" (Luke 4:8).  He wasn't first to them.

"And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father... And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house."

(Luke 9:59, 61)

"First," protos.  This time, there is a chronological aspect, but the connotation here is that they chose something else over following.  This is in direct contrast to James and John, who didn't say, "Let us finish mending our nets first, and then we'll follow you."  It was about prioritizing.

In all of these examples, protos carries a sense of 'highest rank,' 'greatest value,' 'most important,' or 'top priority.'  

So when the Ephesus pastor is charged with leaving his/her protos love, it would seem that there had been an adjustment in priorities, that "most important" had slipped to "important."  Not that he/she didn't still love Jesus or was shirking his/her responsibilities.  But as T.F. Tenney might say, the Ephesus pastor failed "to keep the main thing the main thing."  

How serious was this charge?  Read the next verse in the letter.

"Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."

(Revelation 2:5)

Remember that per Revelation 1:20, the stars represented the pastors, and the candlesticks represented the churches.  The consequence for  the Ephesus pastor failing to repent in this matter would be losing his/her church.  We, as pastors, would do well to take note of this example.

There are a number of important things in our lives.  "But seek ye first [protos] the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33).  

The next verse in Revelation 2 slips back into the vein of the beginning of the letter.

"But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate."

(Revelation 2:6)

Note this distinction.  The Ephesus pastor didn't hate the Nicolaitanes, but rather the "deeds" of the Nicolaitanes.  We need to preach against sin in all of its forms and fashions, but I get a knot in my stomach when I hear a pastor preach against people, politicians, social groups, etc.  God gave his only begotten son because he "so loved the world" (John 3:16), not because he hated it.  "We love him, because he first loved us." (I John 4:19).  So let's preach the truth without fear or favor, but "speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15). Otherwise, we are "as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal" (I Corinthians 13:1), just making a lot of noise.

The letter closes, as all seven letters do, on a positive note.

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God."

(Revelation 2:7)

The pastor is encouraged to keep the faith, and is reminded of the hope and promise of our eternal home.  A great way to end any letter, and a great way to end this blog post.  :-)

Dear Pastor (Part 1)

Letters.  They can be fascinating glimpses into personal thoughts of people past and present.  Our New Testament is saturated with them.  

Growing up, I heard a lot of teaching on and from these epistles in midweek Bible study.  But there were some letters that more often made it into the Sunday sermons.  I’m referring, of course, to the letters contained in the 2nd and 3rd chapters of John’s Revelation.

I always heard them referred to as the “letters to the seven churches.”  But are they?

The easiest way to determine a letter’s recipient is, of course, to check the salutation.  Reading the salutations of New Testament epistles shows that many are addressed to an entire group of believers within a city, or even across entire regions.

“To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints” 

(Romans 1:7)

“Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus” 

(I Corinthians 1:2)

“...unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia” 

(II Corinthians 1:1)

“...unto the churches of Galatia” 

(Galatians 1:2)

“...to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus” 

(Ephesians 1:1)

“...to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons” (Philippians 1:1)

“To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse” 

(Colossians 1:2)

“...unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ” (I Thessalonians 1:1)

“...unto the church of the Thessalonians” 

(II Thessalonians 1:1)

“...to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad” 

(James 1:1)

“...to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” 

(I Peter 1:1)

Often, these recipients were even encouraged to share their letters with each another.

“And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.” 

(Colossians 4:16)

The salutations of other New Testament epistles show that they were intended for a solitary reader.

“Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith” 

(I Timothy 1:2)

“To Titus, mine own son after the common faith” 

(Titus 1:4)

The letters in the 2nd and 3rd chapters of Revelation are often talked about as if fitting into the former category, a letter to the church in Laodicea, for example.  But this is not entirely accurate.

The introduction to the book does state, “John to the seven churches which are in Asia” (Revelation 1:4), and John is told in the 11th verse of the first chapter, “What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.”

But within this letter we call “Revelation” are contained seven smaller letters that are more recipient-specific:

“Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write...” (Revelation 2:1)

“And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write...” (Revelation 2:8)

“And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write...” (Revelation 2:12)

“And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write...”  (Revelation 2:18)

“And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write...” (Revelation 3:1)

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write...” (Revelation 3:7)

“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write...” (Revelation 3:14)

Not, “Unto the churh of,” but “Unto the angel of the church of.”

Now most can agree this is not a reference to the traditional noncorporeal being the average person thinks of when they hear the word “angel,” but rather the consensus is that this refers to a pastor, which is consistent with “a messenger,” the meaning of the Greek word “aggelos,” from which “angel” is translated.

To say that a letter to the pastor of a church is, by extension, a letter to the church body seems a bit of a stretch considering that the Lord, himself, clarifies them as distinct and separate.

“The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.” 

(Revelation 1:20)

Reading these as letters to pastors then, rather than to congregations, brings a fascinating twist to their context, especially if you’re a pastor.