"To the angel of the church in Pergamum write... 'I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name and you do not deny my faith... But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam... so also you have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore, repent... To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna.'" (portions of Revelation 2:12-17)Somewhere around 1400 BC an unstoppable force of rebel slaves made their way across the desert toward a group of semi-nomadic kings. Their reputation preceded them: they were an unbeatable military power with a mythical capacity for supernatural conquest... crossing natural land barriers with ease and raining down curses from the sky on their enemies. Many kings fell at their hand, but one succeeded in stopping this army. His adviser recognized that the power of the slave-nation came from their god; so his counsel was simple. Convince them to stop relying on and trusting in their god- then, they'd be as good as conquered.
Sadly, the strategy worked. Balaam (the counselor to the king) knew that if he could seduce the Israelites away from God, then God's people would be unplugged from God's presence and power. (You can read more in Numbers 25.) This same strategy of distract and divert is used over and over by God's enemy against God's people... and we encounter it in the church today. Satan uses the distractions of the world as attacks against purity of the church... dulling us and preventing us from shining forth with the glory of Christ. What we saw on Sunday from this passage was that the glory of Christ is reflected in the purity of the Church. And Christ's passion for our purity was reflected in three ways in this passage:
1. Christ knows our temptations. Jesus told the Christians in Pergamum that their situation was close to His heart. He knew where they lived: Satan's backyard. In the realm of his influence, breathing the air of a culture he had created. And Jesus relates this intimate knowledge in present tense language: "I know where you live." What comfort there is in this. Jesus knows our present struggles. He doesn't simply equip us to fight and promise to meet us on the other end. He walks with us and comforts us in the midst of the daily battles for purity we all face. How this knowledge helps me to read Hebrews 4... "We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. Instead, Jesus was tempted like us... yet without sin." Christ knows our temptations today because He walked them with us and for us on the earth! His sinlessness doesn't distance Him from us... instead, it qualifies Him to both relate to us and to intercede for us today.
2. Christ opposes our tolerance. Jesus had some harsh words for this church. Despite the encouragement that He could relate to their struggles, Jesus opposed their passivity to a worldliness that was infiltrating the church. Jesus wasn't simply concerned- He promised to come and fight against those who were implementing a worldliness within the church. Like a king welcoming his enemy right into his palace, the folks in Pergamum were allowing Satan access to the church in a way that could lead to their destruction. And Jesus told them that if they wouldn't do something about this, He would. Our church isn't facing an onslaught of teaching that promotes tolerance towards worldliness. To date, we've been handed a great deal of wonderful teaching. What we need is to make sure we're putting it into practice. So on Sunday I suggested that we re-start a conversation about worldliness in our own lives. I suggested that we make it easy for others to ask us questions about the following things:
- Materialism: What are you buying?
- Media: What are you watching?
- Music: What are you listening to?
- Modesty: What are you wearing?
- Mission: What are you pursuing?
So, I think I'll get a bit more acquainted with the questions above... cause I'm gonna need some help from my friends. And when we all pour ourselves into this, we'll shine forth with the glory of Christ because the glory of Christ is reflected in the purity of the Church.
