Revelation 2:14,20 (ESV)
“But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.”
“But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. “
The believers at Pergamum lived in one of the most hostile environments to Christianity. Idol worship and loose living was so rampant that the city rightly gains this term that Christ uses to describe it, ‘Satan’s throne’ or ‘Where Satan lives.’ And so, the believers in Pergamum had to bear this extreme worldliness, I dare say demonic activity. Not only that but they also endured persecution and one of them, Antipas, was even murdered for his faithfulness to the Christian faith. It was the same for those at Thyatira whose love, faith, service and patient endurance was notable. And Jesus commends the two churches for this – that they held on to the name of Christ and refused to deny their faith even though that meant that they would be sidelined and persecuted for it.
Yet despite the churches at Pergamum and Thyatira enduring much persecution for the sake of Christ, destructive teachings crept in that seemed to justify the believers’ idolatry and sexual immorality. It is not just that they practised these things but rather there were teachings justifying them because every behaviour is influenced by a certain belief system. This is what Christ warned the church about and also what He would warn us about today. Because we are given to corrupting our faith by idolatry and sexual immorality. Is this not the case currently? For example, do you know that we have individuals who call themselves queer theologians who make a theological case for same-sex relationships? Haven’t you heard of gay churches and bishops in the West? Wasn’t there a so-called lesbian Kenyan pastor who was in the media recently? This kind of teaching is already in the church, justifying sexual immorality and perversion. But idolatry is also present in the church. Have you noticed the resurgence of African traditional religions and how many Christians have been swayed by that? Or how there is a mixing of Christianity with new-age religion thoughts and practices? We are playing with fire and if we are not careful, it will consume us. As the Lord Jesus told these two churches, so He will tell us today, “Repent!”
Reflections
1. In what other ways have you seen the current modern church influenced by the teachings in Pergamum and Thyatira?
2. Examine your own life. Are there things that you believe and practice that Jesus would issue to you the same sharp rebuke as He did to these two churches?
