Daniel Hope

It happens all the time. An athlete tirelessly practices not because he loves the game, but because he wants to be able to bargain for more money next season. A wife cooks and cleans not because she loves her husband, but because she gets tired of fast food and dirty clothes. A husband completes his honey-do list not because he likes to make his wife happy, but because he doesn’t want to hear her nag. A child obeys her parents not because she loves to please them but because she doesn’t want to get in trouble. A student studies hard to make good grades not because he likes to learn, but because he wants to get a good job when he graduates. An employee comes to work early and leaves late not out of loyalty to the company but out of a desire for advancement.

It happens all the time—things that are right are done for reasons that are less than best.

And it happens to Christians in their service to God. It’s happening to the Christians in Ephesus in the first century when Jesus very candidly brings it to their attention.

Lest we think that the church in Ephesus was nothing but bad, let’s notice the three things for which Christ praises it. First, Christ compliments this church for its labor in the Lord (Rev. 2:2, 3). The people in this congregation are engaged in exhausting labor, yet are not growing weary. The Ephesians’ endurance is a second quality of theirs that pleases Jesus (Rev. 2:2, 3). They have what we might call stick-to-it-ness. When the going gets tough, they get going. As surprising as it may be to some, Jesus then commends these Christians for their hatred (Rev. 2:2, 6). Before we get too bent out of shape by this last compliment, let’s remember that God Himself loves certain things and hates others (1 John 4:8; Mal. 2:16). It makes sense, then, that God’s people must both "hate evil" and "love good" (Amos 5:15). Notice the end of Revelation 2:6—Jesus said that He, too, hates the deeds of the Nicolaitans.

Notice how Revelation 2:4 begins—"Nevertheless." Translation: Buckle up and hold on, Ephesians, because Christ has something against you.

What could Christ possibly have against this church? I can almost hear the Ephesians’ thoughts, "We’re working hard. We’re not giving out, giving in, or giving up. We’re defending the truth. What could possibly be the problem, Jesus?" "You have left your first love," Jesus answers. The problem is—simply stated—their motivation.

Yes, they are laboring, but their labor is not a "labor of love" (1 Th. 1:3). Sure, they are speaking the truth—just not in love (Eph. 4:15). Of course they are active, but—as Paul so eloquently states in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3—loveless action is profitless action. This church appears to be healthy, but they have a diseased heart. Remember, they hate what they should hate; but they don’t love what they should love. They love to hate and hate to love. They’ve got the "hate evil" part down, but they have a lot of work to do on the "love good" part of the equation. And they are not the only ones.

It happens all the time. A deacon does his job because it is just that—his job, not his joy. A teacher begins teaching her Sunday school class out of love for God, His Word, and His children, but later realizes she is teaching simply because she can’t find anyone else who will teach for her. A preacher coldly condemns the sinner and bitterly bashes the false teacher at every opportunity. A sound church allows its love for the truth to gradually deteriorate into a hypocritical, faultfinding spirit.

It happens all the time. Right action—wrong attitude. Right measure—wrong motivation.

You see, MOTIVATION MATTERS! Why you are doing is just as important as what you are doing. The reason you are doing something is just as important as the fact that you are doing it. Let’s be a people who do the right things for the right reasons!