Speaking on Christ’s letter to Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7, Bill Johnson claims that “All structure is supposed to come out of romance.” He extrapolated Revelation 2:4, “But this I have against you, that you have abandoned your first love,” and equated it to romantic intimacy. The key of the Christian life is a “freshness” and “intimacy” and called his congregation to get those “loving feelings” for God.
All structure is supposed to come out of romance. It’s keeping things tender. It’s keeping things simple. The Apostle Paul spoke about the simplicity of devotion to Christ. It’s one of my favorite phrases he uses. The problem with maturity is that you can become impressed by your own growth…”
You can watch the video below, with commentary provided at the bottom.
This is actually the heresy known as theoerosism.Theoerosism is named from two words in Greek, θεός and ἔρως, meaning God and love. ἔρως, however, is often used to describe an erotic type of love, and so Theoerosism is to mean “erotic love for God.” In the clip above, Johnson makes Revelation 2:4 about romance. The term used in Scripture, however, is ἀγάπη (aggape’) and not ἔρως.
The word, “romance” has an etymology that traces back to Greco-Roman culture (hence the word itself, “rome-ance”) and is a pagan concept. Romantic love, as it was invented by the pagans, is shifty, flighty, finicky, and emotional. God’s love – which is immutable and impassible – does not have to be constantly renewed, refreshed, or romanced.
For charismatics always seeking after the next spiritual high, God’s love has become something that is not only hard to maintain but frankly, it’s icky. God loves you, but not like that.
