Ephesus

According to Watchman Nee, the timeline for the church in Ephesus began when the age of the Apostles ended. The Lord has rebukes for Ephesus, but on the positive side, Ephesus is characterized by toil and perseverance, along with a final note that they “hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I [Jesus] 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 who claim to be below God but above the common people. It is clear that God hates this kind of group. Ephesus is praised for hating them, but we will see how this group spreads into the church. 

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 the church ‘full-time’ so that things can be changed. We’re low on man power.”

This thought shows that I believe that certain so-called “serving ones” should make changes in the church instead of myself stepping up to solve the issue.

A few of my friends who serve as 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 just 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 were:

“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 the church 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 all 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. 

This thought of stepping up should also apply to how we care for the people that we preach the gospel to. I used to think that I shouldn’t bring them to the meetings because nobody cares for them. But now, I ask myself:

“Why don’t I have the thought for what I can do to lead them to the Lord? How can I help them know the Lord and believe the Lord?”

No more bringing them to the meeting and passively waiting to be fed, but to serve and put in the work, to know them and feed them what they need.

This can only be achieved if we are submissive to the Spirit, and all take ownership of this body. The principle of 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.