How Good Christians Drift Away From God Without Realizing It

The ancient city of Ephesus was the Roman capital of Asia in the first century. Located on the coast of modern-day Turkey, Ephesus was a center of economic, political and cultural importance. Not only was the city the largest seaport in the region, it was home to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Temple of Artemis. Standing 60 feet tall, 450 feet long, with 127 columns, the Temple of Artemis dominated not just the skyline of ancient Ephesus, but the hearts of ancient Ephesians. Life, religion and politics centered around the temple. With the temple looming in the background, the Apostle Paul planted the first church in Ephesus, where he lived and preached for three years. Decades later, the Apostle John, author of Revelation, led the church in Ephesus through years of intense persecution. Ephesian life wasn't just centered around the Temple of Artemis. It was also home to the imperial cult of the Roman emperor Domitian. Christians who confessed Jesus as Lord constantly faced pressure from their neighbors to confess the emperor as Lord and God. In this context, the Apostle John, refusing to worship the emperor, is exiled to the Mediterranean island of Patmos, where he receives a vision from God to encourage, challenge and convict seven churches, starting with a community of believers he knows all too well. This is Jesus' letter to the church in Ephesus. Well, good morning to you here at Lafayette, across all of our campuses, those of you joining us online. We're so grateful that you decided to worship with us this weekend. In my faith tradition growing up, I grew up Baptist, you know, suits the whole deal in church all weekend. When we would read God's word, we would stand together to show reverence and give thanks to God. So would you do me a favor? Would you stand across all of our campuses as we open up reading God's word, Revelation chapter two, verses one through seven.

And this is Jesus' words to the church in Ephesus. To the message of the church in Ephesus write, these are the words to him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work, your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not and have found them false. You preserved and you have endured hardship for my name and have not grown weary. Yet I have this against you. You are forsaken the love you had at first. No matter how far you have fallen, repent and do the things you did at first. But you have this in your favor. You hate the practices of Nicoletans, which I also hate. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God, Jesus' word to the church in Ephesus. Would you pray with me? Lord Jesus, we are grateful for your word. We are grateful for your presence. And now God, with whatever we're coming into this space with, may you quiet our hearts to hear you, to obey you, and submit our whole self to you. We love you. We thank you in Christ's name. All God's people said, amen, amen. You may be seated. Have you ever looked up one day and realized you aren't where you thought you'd be? Not because of one catastrophic decision, not because of one moment of rebellion, but because of a thousand small decisions that slowly move you off course. You miss one conversation. You neglected one relationship. It was one distraction.

It was one compromise, simply one degree at a time. It's true in our marriages. It's true in our friendships. It's true in our careers. And according to Jesus, it is true in our faith. Maybe it looks like gradually replacing time and prayer with endless scrolling, or becoming too busy with work and responsibilities. responsibilities that worships an afterthought. See, the danger isn't that you'll always run away from God. Sometimes the danger is that we will slowly but surely drift from Him while convicting ourselves, while convincing ourselves, excuse me, that everything's fine. You ever find yourself going through the motions spiritually, assuming everything was okay, just because nothing seemed obviously wrong? See, that's the church in Ephesus. And that's what makes this passage so powerful. It's the fact that Ephesus wasn't a bad church. This wasn't some struggling church tucked away in the forgotten corners of the Roman Empire. Ephesus was one of the greatest churches in the New Testament. To understand why Jesus's words carry so much weight, we first got to understand how remarkable the history of this church and the city where it lived. See, the city itself was one of the most important in all of the Roman Empire. It was thriving, it was a thriving port city, wealthy, influential, strategic,

and at the center stood the Temple of Artemeus like you saw in the video. One of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Literally thousands and thousands of people every year would make a pilgrimage to the temple to worship a false god. It was a center of commerce, politics, religion, and pagan culture, but then God. But then the gospel arrives. Paul spends three years, nearly three years, ministering to the church in Ephesus. In Acts 19, it tells us that revival broke out amongst the people, people in droves coming to Christ, lives being transformed. Literally former practitioners of magic would publicly burn their scrolls to proclaim the truth of the gospel. The gospel spread throughout the whole religion. Friends, listen, this church, it wasn't about church growth. The church in Ephesus experienced a spiritual awakening. So much so that in Acts 20, the apostle Paul, excuse me, yeah, the apostle Paul, he gathers the elders of the church and he warns them. He warns them with fear, with trembling, literally with tears in his eyes. The apostle Paul is crying as he spoke to the church leaders warning them about false teachers that would come. He said, protect the church, guard the truth, stay faithful, and they listened. Timothy would later pastor this church.

And history tells us that John even ministered there for a while. You catching that? Timothy, Paul, John. If any church should have remained healthy, it was the church in Ephesus. If any church should have avoided drift, it was the church in Ephesus. Yet 30 years later, Jesus says his church has left him. If Ephesus can drift, any church can drift. If Ephesus can drift, any pastor can drift. If Ephesus can drift, any Christian can drift. So I'm gonna challenge you to ask yourself a question. What area of your life feels strong on the outside but may need an honest evaluation before the Lord? Y'all, one of the things I love about this letter is how Jesus begins. He begins with commendations before correction. Before he corrects, he encourages the church. Before he confronts, he affirms what's right in them. And that matters to us because when I look at Flatirons Community Church, there is so much to affirm and celebrate. I see people committed to the authority of Scripture, a church that refuses to separate truth from grace. I see men stepping up to live on mission, women leading, serving, discipling, investing in one another. I see people opening their homes for groups, serving faithfully, giving sacrificially.

I see a church that has created a space for the next generation to encounter Jesus. I see marriages being fought for, people pursuing freedom, and the vulnerable being served. The gospel being shared all across the front range in America. See I believe Jesus would commend these things and That's what makes this letter so powerful Ephesus wasn't a bad church and This isn't a message for bad churches, this is a message for churches doing many things, right Yet Jesus can look at a church that is active, generous, biblically grounded, missionally engaged, and still say these words Nevertheless, I have this against you See it's possible to have all the right activity and still lose what matters most It's possible to be committed to the mission and drift from the master It's possible to defend the truth and stop delighting in the Savior This is exactly what Jesus is about to expose in Ephesus So with that background, we really need to hear Jesus' assessment But before he gives this evaluation, he reminds the church of who he is Read it with me in Revelation 2, verse 1, where it says this And these are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand And walks amongst the seven golden lampstands Catch this is what is happening, he being Jesus And notice the text, it's in red because this is Jesus' words spoken through John And Jesus saying, first and foremost, I hold the seven stars These, some commentators think these were angels, some commentators say that they were pastors of this church Either way, these stars are the leaders of this church And the lampstands are these seven churches in what is modern day Turkey And Jesus saying, he is sovereign over the church He is present within the church And he holds all things in his hand Yet he remains intimately involved in the lives of his people Do you understand that this morning, my friends?

Though God sits on his throne in heaven, he is intimately involved in his local church He is walking amongst the lampstands He's present, attentive, and aware And he says, his church His church That he's not just above it, but he's in it Friends, if you catch anything this morning, I want you to catch this If you catch anything in this series, I want you to catch this The church belongs to Jesus It doesn't belong to pastors It doesn't belong to volunteers It doesn't belong to members And it sure as heck doesn't belong to culture It belongs to Jesus and Jesus alone He holds the stars He walks amongst the lampstands And he sees every ministry Every sacrifice, every motive Every hidden compromise Nothing is hidden from him in his house And what he sees in Ephesus is also extremely impressive Look what it says in verse 2 I know your works, your toil, and your patient endurance And how you cannot bear those who are evil Jesus is like, yo, I see you got a problem With the brokenness in this world And won't allow it in my church Jesus sees their faithfulness He sees their sacrifice, their perseverance Their commitment to truth

They had tested false teachers And they protected sound doctrine They defended the gospel Yo, this church was not lazy This church was not compromised It wasn't drifting into heresy But every outward measure This church looked healthy By modern standards They would have looked successful With active ministries, faithful attendance Strong teaching, a reputation for standing firm But then comes this devastating verse This devastating phrase in verse 4 Where Jesus says But I have this against you That you have abandoned the love you had at first Despite all the ministry All the sacrifice, all the truth All the faithfulness Something is wrong And this would stop every single one of us dead in our tracks Because Jesus shows us that spiritual health is measured more Spiritual health is measured not just by activity and knowledge and reputation. It is measured by the condition of our hearts towards God. Y'all, the church at Ephesus was basically that person that knows every worship song, loves K-Love, every Christian podcast. They know all the Greek and send all the emails to us

all the time about stuff. We're misquoting, but somehow they're scaring everybody in the small group, right? Ephesus proves this point, and I want you to jot this down in your notes. You can be right about Jesus and still be distant from Jesus. You can be right about Jesus and still be distant from Jesus. That's the shock of Revelation 2. Jesus isn't speaking to people who rejected him. He's speaking to people who defended him. They knew truth. They protected doctrine. They preserve through difficult times. They remained faithful. And yet Jesus says, I have this against you. How is that possible? It's possible because you can know all the right things about Jesus and still be distant from him. It's possible to defend the truth without delighting in Christ, to know theology without cultivating intimacy, to be active in ministry while becoming passive in your relationship with God. Someone can be faithful, serving every weekend, leading Bible studies, volunteering in the church, yet rarely spend unhurried time with God. Jesus says this in John chapter five. You search the scriptures.

Because you think that I have eternal life, it is that they bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. Jesus is saying, listen, you got the word, but the word is not yet alive in you. See, religious leaders knew the scriptures, yet they didn't know Jesus. That's what makes Ephesus dangerous. The church wasn't failing because it lacked truth. It was failing because somewhere along the way it stopped treasuring the one truth pointed to. They were right about Jesus, but they were long off about being close to him. Now listen, you're like, hey, Carl, you're being really hard on the church of Ephesus. It's not me, it's Jesus. But we must ask ourselves, could it be possible with us that I've become really good at doing Christian things while becoming less passionate about Jesus himself? It could be that I know more Bible than I did 10 years ago, but my love for Jesus has weaned. It could be possible that I'm serving, attending, giving, doing all the right things while slowly drifting from my first love. Friends, when was the last time you genuinely delighted in Christ? See, that question presses beneath activity and exposes affection, and that is exactly where Jesus goes, past accomplishment and straight to the heart.

Because the greatest danger that faces the church in Ephesus was not false teaching from the outside, but a fading love for Christ on the inside. Jot this down in your notes. The greatest danger isn't false doctrine, it's a cold heart. Look at verse four. You have abandoned the love you had at first. That statement's so powerful, not just because of what Jesus says, but because of what he's not saying. He does not say you lost your first love. He says, catch it, you abandoned your first love. See, if you're absent-minded like me, you lose stuff all the time, and typically it's an accident. Your keys, your wallet, your sunglasses, your 12-year-old at Walmart. But this isn't absent-mindedness. You leave relationships. And leaving usually doesn't. It happened all at once. It happened slowly. One step, one choice, one distraction, one wrong priority at a time. And I don't think it's by accident or by chance that later in Revelation, Christ makes mention of the church as his bride. And he, the bridegroom. Stay with me for a second, you'll catch this. Jesus points later on in Revelation

to the most intimate relationship that you can have on this side of the cross to point to the bigger truth. Those of us who are married, you can find yourself, we can find ourselves in that same relational drift. The same relational drift with the person that we vowed to care for most above all. And it never begins with just one fight about working too much. It's never about just one disagreement over finances. It's this slow drip. And you think you know how to handle it, but then you look up several years later and the woman or man that you love is now simply a roommate. On the surface, everything seems fine. You're raising the kids, you're showing up on weekends, you're in a connect group, but things are about to drift. And with the drift, here it is. It's never this sudden explosion. It's this slow, steady boil that eventually bubbles up to the surface, runs over and makes a huge mess of things. It's the same with our spiritual drift. Friends, nobody wakes up and says, I don't wanna follow Jesus anymore. Very few people wake up and go, I just don't wanna follow Jesus anymore. That's not how it usually happens.

Most people simply drift. And the hard part is you may not even know it or notice that it's happening. Have you ever looked up and realized your prayer life used to be stronger than it is now? Have you ever opened your Bible and thought to yourself, it's been a while since I've really wanted to be here? Have you ever been so busy that the time with Jesus keeps getting pushed off till tomorrow? See, everything can still look fine on the outside. Ministries are running, sermons are being preached, small groups are being led, people are showing up, the church calendar is full, the budget's strong. You can sing the songs and not really think about the words. You can sit in church while your mind is elsewhere and you're just waiting for the amen at the end of the service so you can dart out of the campus and try to beat the traffic in the parking lot. But Jesus is saying something is wrong. The lights can be on while the power is gone. The crowd can gather while the presence is missing. The church can look alive, but inside the walls, believers can be spiritually dead. Me too. There's been seasons where I'd rather scroll on my phone and get caught up in the news than open my Bible. There are seasons when I spend hours and hours talking about sports, leadership, ministry strategy, but struggle to spend 10 focused minutes in prayer. There are seasons when it's felt easier

to do Christian things than simply be with Christ. I confess this to y'all. There's times where it's easier to work for Jesus than sit with Jesus. Where it's easier to reflect on ministry than it is to reflect on the person of Christ. And that's what makes this letter so unsettling because drift rarely feels dramatic. When it's happening, it feels normal, it feels busy. It can even feel productive in some seasons. Until one day, Jesus lovingly points out that we have slowly stopped noticing. What has slowly taken first place in your life? What's slowly taken first place in your life? Is it your job, the kids, your schedule, your phone, your stress, your goals? I'll phrase it the other way. When you have free time, where does your mind go first? See, it's important to understand something here. Over the past few years, we've heard many people's stories about people who have deconstructed and walked away from their faith, people who talk about leaving the church, questioning what they believe, and they're trying to figure out what's true. But many of those stories are not about people who suddenly stopped believing. They are about people who started asking questions, and questions are not the enemy of faith. Let me say that again to you.

Questions are not the enemy of faith. In fact, questions can be part of your faith journey. Thomas had questions. Habakkuk in the Old Testament had questions. David had questions. Even John the Baptist had questions. The Bible shows us that asking questions can go hand-in-hand with developing real, lasting faith. See, the opposite of faith is not question. It's indifference. There is a big difference between somebody who is struggling with Jesus and someone who's walking away from Him. One of them is moving towards Him, even with doubt. The other is slowly moving away and growing cold. Listen, if you find yourself as a skeptic in this room, across any of our campuses online, I am telling you, this is the church for you. Your questions are not too big for God. Your doubts are not too big for God. Your struggle is not too big for God. Your pain point is not too big for God. If you're here and you have questions, Jesus is not threatened by that. The same Jesus who welcomed Thomas to touch the wounds in His hand is speaking here. And His concern is not that the church in Ephesus had questions. His concern is that they did not love Him like they used to.

Scripture tells us that He's a jealous God. And He's saying, you don't love Me like you used to. How difficult would it be to hear from that, from someone you were intimately connected with, a spouse, a sibling, a parent? But when's the last time you just enjoyed being with Jesus? When's the last time, church, you just enjoyed being with Him? You weren't prepping anything. It wasn't out of duty. You did it because your heart was overwhelmed with love. That's what's happening in Ephesus. They still believe the right thing. They still did the right thing, but something had changed. The warmth was gone. The joy was gone. The love had faded. And that's why this passage hits so close to home. It's not talking about a people who walked away. It's talking about a people who stayed faithful, committed people, serving people, loving people. The greatest danger is not false doctrine. It is this cold heart, because spiritual drift happens when activity for God replaces intimacy with God. Spiritual drift happens when activities for God replaces intimacy with God. Now, here's the question. How does that happen?

How does a church planted by Paul, led by Timothy, influenced by John, and praised by Jesus drift from their first love? The answer may be found in what they were praised for. Catch this. They were working, serving, protecting, defending the word, laboring, preserving, all good things, all necessary things. But somewhere along the line, activity for Jesus replaced intimacy with Jesus. The work became the more important part of the relationship. The ministry became more important than the Savior. One of the great ironies of the church and the Christian life is that our greatest strength can become our greatest vulnerability. The things that begin as expressions of love can eventually become substitutes for love. Think about Martha and Luke. See, Martha was not doing bad things. She was serving Jesus, preparing, working, helping. Yet Jesus says this to her in verse 41. Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Look me in the eyes, church, you gotta get this. One thing is necessary. And Mary had chosen the better portion. Martha was busy. for Jesus, Mary was with Jesus. The issue is not service, the issue is priorities. And the truth is many of us are more like Martha

than we realize. We have become busy for God, but not necessarily close to God. We are doing the things for him while spending very little time with him. And that's the scary part when you're drifting. You usually don't know you're drifting. Martha didn't think she was drifting. The Ephesians didn't think that they were drifting. In fact, some from the outside looked at them and said, you're so healthy. You're serving, you're giving, you're leading, you're protecting truth, doing all the things of a good church should do. That's why spiritual drift is so dangerous. It is rarely announced itself. It doesn't show up with flashing lights and warning sirens. Most of the time it feels like progress. It feels productive. It feels responsible until one day you realize you have been moving for a long time, but haven't stopped to ask Jesus to go with you. It makes me think of a famous story about some explorers. In 1911, two teams set out to reach the South Pole, one led by Roald Amstead, the other by Robert Falcon Scott. Both teams were courageous, talented, and deeply committed, but Amstead's team had a simple philosophy. Stay on course, move forward every day regardless of the conditions,

whether the weather was good, whether it was bad, whether they felt strong or exhausted, they kept moving towards the destination. Scott's team, on the other hand, while incredibly capable, became more activated, more reactive to their circumstances. Eventually, Amstead reached the South Pole first, Scott arriving a few weeks later only to discover that he had lost the race. The tragedy was not the lack of effort, it was the accumulation of small decisions over a period of time. One team stayed focused on the destination while the other gradually lost ground. That is Ephesus. They did not reject Jesus, they drifted from him. Nobody drifts into intimacy, you only drift from it. Because here's the thing, friends, and jot this down, whatever your deepest affection becomes, you're true first love. Whatever has your deepest affection will become your true first love. That's why Jesus' words cut so deep. Because he ultimately, what he ultimately wants is not simple, it's not just to correct doctrine. He wants affection, he wants devotion. The first place in your heart is only for Christ. Whatever your deepest affection is, that becomes your true first love. Jesus does not accuse them of loving bad things. He says they loved him less.

They loved him less. Something else had taken center stage in their life. Something else might be taking center stage in your life. Maybe it's ministry, maybe it's success, maybe it's comfort, a reputation, security, or simply life itself, but Jesus has no longer been first. Every heart has a throne and something or someone is sitting on it. Something or someone captures our attention, our imagination, our deepest affection. Jesus said it in Matthew 6, 21, where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. So ask yourself, what gets your first thoughts in the morning? What occupies your attention throughout the day? What creates the greatest fear in you? What brings the deepest joy? See, these questions reveal what's truly holding first place in our heart. The question is not whether or not you love Jesus. The question is whether you love Jesus most. And let me give you some good news. The way back is simple. Jot this down. Remember, repent, love. Return, remember, repent, return. See, what's beautiful about this passage is that Jesus does not expose the problem, he provides a way back. He doesn't just give diagnosis, he gives prescription.

Remember those days. Remember those days from when you had fallen, when you were lost, when you were broken. And for some of you, that's today. He says, repent, repent and do the work you did first. Jesus is saying, keep it simple, go back to basics. Y'all, remember when grace amazed you. Remember when worship moved you. Not when you showed up and said, oh, I don't like this song. It ain't for you anyways. Amen. Remember when scripture came alive? When Jesus was not just important, but he was central. Remember where you were when you had fallen. Remember what that first call of repentance felt like. And it's not about guilt, it's not about shame. Repentance is a change of direction. It means turning away from whatever had replaced Jesus and restoring him to the primary focus of our life. Return by doing the first works again, Jesus says. Jesus is like, y'all, pray again like your life matters upon it. Read scripture because it's true and unquestioned. Worship again, share your faith again, not because these things save you, but because they restore connections. These are the practices that we never outgrow. But he gives a warning in verse five. If not, if not, if you don't remember, repent and return.

I will come to you, remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. Jesus is not saying that he will cease to exist, that we will cease to exist. He is saying they will cease to function as his church. The organization may remain while the witness disappears. The crowds may remain while the power disappears. The structure may remain while the presence disappears. The lampstands may remain, but the lights will go out. And history has shown us, history has warned us about this. Today, if you go to modern day Turkey, where Ephesus is, there is ruins there. The harbor's gone, the temple is crumbled. There is no church in Ephesus. The warning was not empty. The greatest church, perhaps in the New Testament, drifted from their savior. Jesus says, remember, repent, return. Friends, he doesn't say work your way back. He doesn't say prove your worth. He says return. Because that's what children who know who they are and who know who they belong to do. When my daughters were younger, they would bust into our room at all hours of the night with all types of crazy requests. Sometimes it was a glass of water. Sometimes they needed the 14th bedtime story. Sometimes it was to brush their dolly's hair at three o'clock in the morning that felt bizarre.

Sometimes they barged in late at night and saw some stuff they didn't wanna see, but I didn't tell you to come in my room, right? But you know what happened? They never stood outside the door wondering, do I belong here? They never rehearsed the speech. They never filled out an application. They never worried whether I would still be their dad. Why? Because they know they're my kids. Georgia and Ruby know that they belong. They know whose they are. And that's exactly what Jesus, reminding the church in Ephesus and reminding us. In verse seven, he says, he who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, to the one who has ears. who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. This is an invitation. You don't have to earn your way back. The invitation is to come back, to return, to remember whose you are, to remember who loved you first, to remember who died for you, to remember who forgave you, to remember who owns you. Because you don't return to Jesus as an employee trying to keep a job. You return as a son, as a daughter,

coming home to a father who already loves you just the way you are. Jesus is promising in verse seven, the church in Ephesus and us, and really anyone who would have ears to hear. He is promising a return to Eden, a return to peace, a return to perfection, where everything was good, where everything was whole, a return to a time where there was no separation between you and God, a return to this openness, this oneness with God, a return to the time that our hearts yearned for our Lord. The church in Ephesus wasn't being called to perform better. They were being called, you were being called to come home. To come home. Back to the basics. What an invitation that Jesus loved us enough to confront us from our drift. And he loves us enough to say, you're always welcome. This morning, Jesus is calling us home. That we would remember, that we would repent, and we would return to our one true love. Father God, how grateful we are for your love, your unconditional love and mercy and grace. So Jesus, I pray that we'll start coming home. Back to basics. Simply praying. I need you, Jesus.

Simply worshiping. I love you, Lord. Simply inviting to come and see. Because those are all the things that you offered us. So we thank you. We love you. In Christ's name, all God's people said. Amen. And now in the church, here's what I want you to do. I want you to stay in this moment. Sometimes we're so hurried that we miss these moments. I'm gonna tell y'all. Listen, you don't have anywhere to go. Relax. Your kids are taken care of. We have mountains of goldfish in the back. And I don't want you to miss this moment. Because I believe this morning that the Spirit of God wants to wash over some of us. The Spirit of God wants to encourage many of us, but we're too busy, we're too hurried. And God's saying, why don't you practice returning right now? Remembering right now. This song that the bands are gonna sing across the campuses is an old hymn that I love. One of my pops was the director of our church, of the congregational director. Old people know what I'm talking about, right? Dad had no musical gifts, but he loved this song.

But he'd only allow us to sing verses one, three, and five. And this morning, I want us to spend a little bit moment going through every stanza. You may not know some of these words, but I would ask that you would let them wash over you, that you would allow God to remind you. Maybe it's in a posture of prayer. Maybe you need to stand and raise your hands. But just for a few moments, let's remember exactly who our King is, who holds the stars and the lampstands in his hand.