Dear Calvary Chapel,
In light of the controversy surrounding Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, there's something that's been weighing on my heart.
I keep coming back to Jesus' words to the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2.
Here was a church that took doctrine very seriously. They tested false teachers, rejected evil, and they persevered in the truth. They were known as the “discerning” church. They had convictions. And Jesus commended them for it.
But then came these sobering words:
"Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love."
Think about that. A church can be doctrinally “sound”, fully committed to truth, and still lose sight of what matters most.
As someone who spent most of my life within Calvary Chapel, and now looking in from the outside, I can't help but wonder if there's a warning here for a movement I still deeply love.
And listen, I understand the concerns surrounding Costa Mesa. I understand the desire for clarity, consistency, and even preserving the identity of Calvary Chapel. There's something valuable about a family of churches sharing common convictions and practices. I get why pastors are concerned about what happens when those convictions begin to differ.
But at what point does protecting the identity of a movement begin to overshadow the heart of Jesus?
You may disagree with Brian and Char Brodersen. You may believe they're completely wrong. You may even feel a strong desire to put an AI generated image on your church's social media separating from their ministry.
But church, we are still called to love them.
Not tolerate them. Not speak of them with disgust or contempt. Love them.
They are not your enemies. They are people Jesus loves, and how we speak about them matters just as much as the theological positions you might be defending.
Remember what Jesus said:
"By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35)
Not by how fiercely we defend our distinctives. Not by how loudly we announce our disagreements. By our love for one another.
And that includes the brothers and sisters we disagree with.
A Question to Ponder…
And to my pastor friends, in light of this recent “controversy”, I want to offer a question. Not because culture is demanding it, but because Scripture itself invites us to wrestle with it.
Can the women in your churches do everything the women in Scripture were empowered by God to do?
Can they prophesy? Teach? Lead? Minister? Be entrusted with significant responsibility in the Kingdom?
If not, why not?
I'm not asking you to abandon your convictions (unless they’re unbiblical). I'm asking you to examine them. Because being biblical means more than defending the interpretations we've inherited. It means having the humility to continually bring those interpretations before the whole counsel of Scripture.
And whatever conclusions we reach, being right about doctrine never gives us permission to be wrong in how we love people.
That's what makes the warning to Ephesus so sobering.
Jesus didn't rebuke them for caring about truth. He rebuked them because somewhere along the way, they had abandoned their first love.
And I wonder if Calvary Chapel is in danger of doing the same.
Church, we have people to love. Families to shepherd. Disciples to make. A broken world that desperately needs to hear the good news of Jesus.
Let's not get so consumed with preserving a movement that we neglect the people standing right in front of us.
Be gracious. Be loving. Be Spirit-led. Be evangelistic. Hold fast to Jesus.
Calvary Chapel, perhaps it's time to remember, repent, and return to our first love.
Because at the end of the day, the goal was never to build a movement worth defending.
It was to make Jesus known.
