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Following is an excerpt of "God Is Never the Problem" by Duane Bemis added on 09/16/2004.
The Church that Lost Its Love
Rex Yancey
Revelation 2:1-5


There was a preacher that put everything on his resume. He went to an associational meeting and it fell upon a country preacher to introduce him. The country preacher got up and began to thumb through his resume. He went to an associational meeting and it fell upon the country preacher to introduce him. The country preacher got up and began to thumb through his resume. Finally, he said, "Folks, if he is as good as this says he is, let's get it one. If he is not, let's get it over with!"

Jesus said, "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples in that you have love toward one another. This love is 'agape' love. It is God's kind of love. It is a sacrificial, unconditional love. It is a love that is not self serving. It is a love that seeks the welfare of others. Without this kind of love, we are tinkling cymbals and sounding brass. Without this kind of love, people will never take us seriously.

John received a vision and heard a voice that he was to relay to these seven churches. In each one there is a commendation, a complaint, and a cure for their dilemmas. This church worked hard, hated evil deeds, had discernment, and had patience. These are needed characteristics in our churches today. But the condemnation was that they had waxed cold in their love.

I want to raise a few questions concerning this love that this church had lost.

1. WHAT IS THIS LOVE?

I believe this love could have referred to one of three things.

1. Love for the lost. Had this church grown cold in its love for the lost? In our day one can put on sandwich boards and march the streets for a cause and still not love the lost. We have become more cause oriented than evangelistic.

How much is a sinner worth? Athletes are making astronomical amounts of money for very short careers. We put values on people. How much is a factory worker worth, a secretary, a school teacher? But what is a sinner worth? They are not worth much to some people and to some churches. One church told their pastor that their church was getting too big!

The priest and the Levite were on their way to church when they saw a man in need. They walked on the other side of the road. Sinners mean nothing to self-righteous people like the Pharisees. The worst sin is to think that we have no sin.

A sinner is worth everything to God. According to Luke 15, a sinner is like a sheep to a shepherd, a wedding ring to a wife, or a son to a father.

A German author, Albert Calmus, wrote an autobiography entitled THE FALL. He says that his "Fall" happened one night while he was walking over a brid ...

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