You can be technically excellent. You can run a great set. You can pull off the modulation. You can mix the room well. And underneath all of that — very quietly — you can have stopped abiding in Jesus.

Anchored in Revelation 2:2-4 — Jesus to the church at Ephesus. He names everything they are doing right. The work. The toil. The perseverance. And then he names what he sees that no one else can see: you have left your first love.

The competence is not the problem. The competence has become the camouflage. The work coming out fine is what protects you from being noticed. The work coming out fine is what keeps anyone from asking. The work coming out fine is what lets you go years before anything bottoms out.

Remember. Repent. Return. Not perform harder. Not produce better. Return.

Formation to Transformation is a worship devotional for people who want worship to be more than a song set.

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Read the written version and get extra notes at ryanloche.substack.com. Subscribe so you do not miss the next episode.