To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives. Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. (Rev. 2:12-16).
We are continuing to look at the letters to the seven churches of Asia in the beginning chapters of the book of Revelation as an opportunity to check our alignment with the Father so that nothing hinders the flow of the Spirit in our lives. Frequent course corrections are usually needed for all of us if we are to stay aligned with our “true north.” These letters remind us that we can be on track spiritually in parts of our lives while being seriously out-of-step in other parts.
In his admonition to the church in Pergamum, Jesus acknowledged the things they had done that prompted praise from heaven. They had not renounced the name of Jesus or rejected the faith even in the face of brutal persecution. Within the city was a huge altar that was built for sacrifices to Zeus or Athena or both. Some believe this is the throne of Satan referenced in the letter. The city was a center for pagan worship. The bible is clear that demons rather than gods are the power behind any idol so that Satan had a stronghold within this city that warred against the church. The church had held its own when hell had broken out against them and even when Antipas was martyred for the faith. Jesus affirmed them for their faith that had been sustained in a demonic stronghold.
However, their faith wasn’t all that it could be. The real issue among the “faithful” of Pergamum was tolerance. Apparently they tolerated men and women in the church who still participated in idolatry and immorality and who were enticing other believers to join them. In a city with so much demonic influence and immorality it may have seemed that what these individuals promoted was “not so bad” compared to the culture around them and yet Jesus taught that a little leaven will eventually affect the entire loaf. In essence, the culture was impacting the church rather than the church impacting the culture. A little tolerance and a little political correctness may seem to buy the church a little acceptance by the culture but it is offensive to the Spirit. True alignment always seeks the praise of the Father over the praise of men.
Compromise with the culture misaligns us with the Father and his heart. That is true for churches but just as true in our personal lives as well. When we are surrounded by a demonic and debase culture it is easy to compromise with the flesh and the culture by engaging in things that seem “more moral” than what the culture at large is practicing. After a while, the “more moral than the culture” may become a standard in our lives rather than biblical standards of righteousness. My guess is that this compromise shows up most in movies, television, books, magazines, and web sites that believers frequent.
For instance, many believers feel no hesitation to go to a PG-13 movie because our culture considers the content to be fairly tame. However, what is seen in PG-13 movies now would have been R-rated or even X-rated 50 years ago. The standard for each of us should not be not what the culture considers harmless but what the Spirit finds unoffensive.
Many of us watch television shows that promote homosexuality, adultery, premarital sex, or greed as an acceptable lifestyle with no thought of those things being sin and being highly offensive to the Spirit of God. Compromise with the culture, even in what we watch or read, dulls our spiritual sensitivity to the things that are unholy. They also dull our sensitivity to the things that are holy.
Undoubtedly, when we are committed to live by biblical standards of righteousness we will seem fanatical or prudish to most of the people around us – even to other believers. And yet tolerance and compromise are the very things about which Jesus warned the church at Pergamum. The more aligned we are with the Father’s heart, the more of his Spirit we will experience. Alignment is about saying yes to the things of God and no to the things of the world. May we choose well today so that the power of heaven can flow easily in our lives and may we ask for a spiritual sensitivity to the things that please the Spirit or that grieve him.
