Chapter 1: Ephesus
The church history timeline prophesied in Revelation 2 and 3 begins with the end of the Apostolic age; this is represented by the church in Ephesus. The Lord has rebukes for this group, but on the positive side, Ephesus is characterized by toil and perseverance with a final note that they “hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” Nicolait is made up of two Greek words: nikao which means “conquer” or “above others” and laos which means “common people.” Therefore nicolait means “conquering the common people” and the Nicolaitans refer to a group of people who esteem themselves higher than the common people. These people make up a mediatorial class, a people below God but above the common people. They bear the spiritual burden of the church, yet others who are “laymen” do not — or “cannot” — carry a spiritual burden. It is clear that God hates this kind of group. Ephesus is praised for hating them, but in future chapters, we will see how this group spreads into the church.
A Brother’s Response
The principle of the Nicolaitans is hidden in many of my common thoughts. Sometimes I would have the thought: “I wish we had more people serving full-time so that things can be changed. We’re just low on manpower.” This thought shows that I believe the serving ones should make changes in the church instead of stepping up to solve the issue. A few of my friends who serve full-time echo this thought. They noticed that people treat them very differently, as if they are “holier than thou.” However, this all follows the principle of the Nicolaitans. The serving ones are not the ones who “do spiritual things” in the church. They are just brothers like us. We all bear the burden for the body.
A few other thoughts I had: “I’m just a nobody who can’t do anything in the church”, “nobody asks me to do anything so I’m just useless”, “I’m too scared to fail so I’ll just show up in the meetings, that’s good enough.” That isn’t good enough! Each one of us functions, and each one of us needs to grow. Our brothers who serve full time are simply our brothers and supporters. 1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people acquired for a possession.” All of the children of God are priests of God. We are each made holy through our relationship with Jesus. The church is OUR church and it is ALL OUR responsibility to participate in the spiritual and practical matters. We, the whole church, are priests; each member has a part, whether big or small. If one part of the body is weak, the whole body is weak. We truly cannot function healthily and properly without the proper functioning of each member. No exceptions.
Such universal functioning should also apply to the people that we preach the gospel to. Instead of thinking in the old way — that I shouldn’t bring them to the meetings because nobody cares for them — I should ask myself: why don’t I have the thought of what I can do to lead them to the Lord? How can I help them know the Lord and believe in the Lord? I no longer want to bring them to the meeting where they passively wait to be fed. I desire to serve them , to put in the work, to know them and to feed them what they need.
This is my practical take away: to have a more true love for my brothers is not just the job of the serving brothers. It starts with me; it starts with us. I’ve been praying that I would love the Lord more so that my heart would be enlarged, and that the Lord would write many names on my heart. Not just checking with people regularly, but a real consideration for how they are doing, and how I can help them with their walk with the Lord. Inspired by the book, I believe that brotherly love means holistic care. Not only do I need to care for them spiritually (which is most important) but also humanly since spirituality would also be limited by humanity. I would like to have more unique individual care for each person, not simply being nice but truly loving them. I want to enjoy them and be active in their life.
This can only be achieved if we are submissive to the Spirit, and all take ownership of this body. The principle of the Nicolaitans MUST be abolished before we can truly achieve a church that truly loves each other as brothers. We are all building up the body together. May our church be known for our radical love for loving the Lord and for one another.
