Sweet Spot

I suppose I should start this post by first of all making it known that this idea I'm presenting is not one that is original with me. I heard it in a presentation that someone gave at school a few weeks ago, and he heard it from a guy in his church, and that guy read it from a book, I think. But, if that many people keep passing it on, then it must be a good idea. Maybe you too will share it, and you can say, "I heard this from a blog, but the same guy also wrote that he only wants to date a girl who lives in a barbecue restaurant, and that's just ridiculous. Maybe he's not really worth listening to."

Anyways, the speaker at this presentation was talking about how we can most effectively utilize the time that we have--about what projects, duties, or responsibilities we should give the most attention to. He talked about finding your "sweet spot," which is where your proficiency, passion, and purpose all come together. You can think about it as a venn diagram. The sweet spot is where the three circles come together, and this is where you want to spend most of your time. You want to dedicate yourself to the things that you're good at, you have a passion for, and that help fulfill your purpose.

There might be something that fits your purpose, but that you honestly aren't very good at. It's probably best to delegate that to someone else for whom that task fall into their sweet spot. Or, there could be something that you're good at, but you just couldn't care less about. Again, that's something that someone else might love to do and could do better than you.

This "sweet spot" principle can go a long way in shaping how we spend our time in ministry, in jobs, or just in life in general. It might be helpful to look at all of the different activities you do throughout the day and see where they fall on this chart. Of course, sometimes we all have to do things that don't fall in our sweet spots, but hopefully the bulk of our doings are there. But you may find that most of the things you do are somewhere else on the chart. If that's the case, you might need to do some reevaluation, delegate some responsibilities, and see if there is a way to adjust what is expected of you.

So are you good at baking cookies? Do you enjoy baking cookies? Do you feel like it's your purpose to be a kind and generous person? Then bake some cookies and send them to me! Thanks, you're a peach. I'll be looking in the mail for them.

How to Shop

Sometimes you don't understand all of the dynamics that make up a situation until you are on the other side of it. For example, sees things that happen at a school that a student doesn't. You might spend twelve years in school as a student, but if you become a teacher, you become aware of things that you were completely oblivious to before.

For the last couple months, I have been working as a cashier at a major retailer. Now, we all have plenty of experience as customers. You've gone to the store to do a little shopping, and you've watched the cashier scan your items and put them in plastic bags, and you've handed over your money and received your change. But when you're on the other side of your transaction, you begin to see all sorts of things that you never saw before, and many of them are negative. And so, in the spirit of Black Friday, I'd like to give you a few tips that can help you be a courteous and responsible shopper:

Make sure you have money to buy what you pick up
I think this is a no-brainer, but apparently not everyone else does. You can't buy things if you can't pay for them. Now, I understand if you might be cutting it close with what funds you have available to you, so you might grab and item or two that you'll have to wait on for another time. But it amazes me when customers come up to my register with a large order and say something like, "Let me know when my total gets to $30," and that total is reached only halfway through their cart, so then they say they don't want anything else. This is especially problematic when the unwanted merchandise includes cold food such as meat or milk. If a customer brings a package of hamburger up to the register and then says they don't want it, we can't put it back on the floor for purchase because of health concerns, and that meat is just thrown away. So when you're shopping, make sure you can pay for what you grab.

If you do change your mind about buying something, put it back or give it to an employee
When I worked at a library, there were signs all over the place tells our visitors not to try to reshelve books that they had pulled off the shelf. Why? Because the Dewey Decimal System can be a little complicated for some people, and it's important to make sure things get put back in the same place. In a store, many people don't care at all if things are where they're supposed to be, so you see all kinds of items in random places. Just in my check-out line, I always find cans of green beans, packets of underwear, or spiral notebooks. Once I found an entire set of pajamas jammed up where the gum is. That's not where pajamas go. They go in the pajama section. So take them there, or give them to someone who can.

Put a hold on your family drama until you get outside
Families quarrel from time to time. All of us have gotten into arguments with family members. You've probably even shouted once or twice. But please, when you're standing at the register buying your products, establish a momentary truce until you leave the store. You might not think it's that big of a deal to cuss at your significant other or to yell at your kids how then need a whoopin', but when you do it while the cashier is trying to bag your merchandise, it's awkward as heck for that person.

Don't eat what isn't yours
This one really isn't that big of a deal. I think it's kind of funny actually, because it's just not how I've grown up operating. But sometimes, when I'm ringing up someone's merchandise, an empty bag of chips or candy will come along my conveyor belt, and the customer will say, "Oh yeah...I ate that." What?! Here's the thing: you don't own anything in the store until you pay for it. Up until that point, it belongs to the store. So don't eat it. If you're really hungry, take it to the front and buy it. Otherwise, it's like going into a strangers house and rummaging through their cupboards for Little Debbie cakes.

When the cashier hits on you, just go with it
You wouldn't believe how many times I've winked at a pretty customer and tried to get her number, but she just totally shoots me down. No sense of common courtesy.

Don't expect every employee to be an expert on every product
Now, in a lot of stores, you should expect that the people working there have some knowledge about the things they sell. Especially in a smaller, specialty store. However, I work in a store that sells just about everything, and it would be absurd for me to know everything there is to know about all of the items in our store. And yet, this is what people often expect. It's okay to ask, but don't get frustrated if the person you ask isn't really able to help. I don't know which kinds of chewing gum are safe for dentures. I don't know of that pan will be big enough for the turkey you bought.

Have you ever worked retail? Do you ever see any other behaviors that customers do that can be obnoxious?

Laodicea: The Lukewarm Church

Over the past several weeks, I've been writing about the letters Jesus dictates to John for the seven churches of Asia in Revelation 2-3. If you've reading these posts, I hope that you've been able to relate in some way to the messages that Jesus is giving to these churches. There are a lot of good things about these churches, and hopefully those qualities are present in our churches as well. But there are also a lot of areas in the believers' lives that need correction, and I would bet that many of us need the same words of warning and challenge. This might be especially true in the seventh and last letter, and probably the most well-known, the letter to the church at Laodicea. Here's what it says in Revelation 3:13-22:

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, "I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing." But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

There are a lot of tough words in this passage. Jesus isn't being overly delicate here. In my posts on the letters to Smyrna and Philadelphia, I pointed out that those letters are unique in that they are the only ones where Jesus gives no rebuke. Well, Laodicea is unique in the opposite way. Jesus gives no commendation. He doesn't say, "Here's the good things you've done, but here's some ways you need to do better." He just says, "I know your deeds," and it's pretty much downhill from there.

So what are these deeds that Jesus reprimands the Laodiceans about? He says that they are lukewarm. I remember when I first read this passage when I was younger, I thought this just meant that the Laodiceans were sort of committed to God, but not all the way. To be "hot water" would be good (like being "on fire" for Jesus), and being "cold water" meant you had a pentagram tattooed on your forehead and could quote passages of Thus Spoke Zarathustra from memory. But now I don't think that's what the image of lukewarm water is getting at, because the truth is that both hot water and cold water are useful. You can use hot water to bathe in or to cook, and you can use cold water to drink or to play in the sprinkler in your front yard. But lukewarm, tepid water...it's not really good for much of anything. It's useless. And that's what Jesus is getting at, I think. He's not saying, "I would rather you be a Satanist that be lukewarm." But he does blast the Laodicean church for having become useless to the kingdom. And what's the threat if this situation remains the same? Jesus says he would spit them out of his mouth. Literally, the word means to vomit. There's not really anything in the world I hate more than vomiting, and I imagine it would be even worse to be the vomit. But that's what Jesus says would happen with the Laodiceans if they don't repent.

But why had the Laodicean church become useless? The rest of the letter explains. They depended on their own wealth and security and failed to recognize their need for God. That's the thing about Laodicea: the city was absolutely loaded. In A.D. 60, an earthquake had destroyed the city of Laodicea. When the Roman government showed up and offered to help with the rebuilding, the Laodiceans said, "Thanks, but no thanks. We can handle it." Can you imagine a city today doing that--turning down governmental aide after a natural disaster because they are wealthy enough to rebuild on their own? The Laodiceans had a lot money. They had enough to navigate life pretty well on their own. The problem with the church however, was that this security found in riches caused them to also tell God, "Thanks, but we've got this."

The believers in Laodicea were deceiving themselves, though. The truth was that they weren't alright. They thought their bank accounts gave them security, but Jesus strips away their inadequate veneers are reveals their true state. They are "wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked." They thought that because of their wealth, they were spiritually self-sufficient, but in reality they are a total wreck. And instead of trusting in their gold, clothing, and eye salve (three products that Laodicea was known for), they needed what only God could give them.

There aren't many passages of the Bible that are more relevant to the American church than Revelation 3:14-22. A lot of people shy away from the book of Revelation because they think it's all these crazy visions that no one can understand, so it doesn't matter anyway. But Revelation was written to seven churches in Asia in order to guide them as they followed Christ in the world, and those seven churches dealt with a lot of the same things we do today. Laodicea was rich. They depended on wealth instead of on God because, well, it seemed like they could get by doing that. And that same temptation exists in our own culture today. We are the richest nation in the history of the world. We can provide for ourselves the things that we need. And if there's some kind of emergency, we've got savings accounts and insurance policies and contingency plans to bail us out. With so many resources at our fingertips, we might in effect say to God, "Thanks God, but we can handle things here. We've got it taken care of."

In a lecture on this passage, my old Revelation professor Shane Wood asks, "If the Holy Spirit left your life, would your life change? If the Holy Spirit left your church, would your church change?" Do we really rely on God? Our wealth can make that difficult. That's the thing about being poor. A poor person recognizes their dependence. He understands that he needs something that he is unable to provide for himself. And that might be why Jesus said the poor are blessed (Lk. 6:20), and James says that the poor are actually in a high position while the rich are in a low position (Jas. 1:9-10). If we are going to be the disciples and the church that Christ calls us to be, we need more than anything to recognize that we can't go anywhere without him.

I think Jesus is trying to get our attention. He's pounding on the door, trying to rouse us from our comfort and lethargy. When we talk about Jesus knocking at the door, we tend to think of it in evangelistic contexts, and we tell unbelievers that God is knocking on their heart, so they need to let him in. But it's interesting that in the context of Romans 3, this image is spoken to the church! Jesus wants in the church! And far too often, we leave him out on the front step. It's time we bring him in for dinner.

Speaking of dinner, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving this week and that you get to spend it with family and friends. And if you plan on going shopping on Black Friday, please be kind to your cashier. If you're a guy, give him a high five. If your a lady, give him your number and a wink. He could use it.

Philadelphia: The Resilient Church

This is what Jesus says in the sixth letter of Revelation, this one in Revelation 3:7-13:

To the angel of the church of Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars--I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. 

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

I feel like I really don't have a whole lot to say about the letter to Philadelphia. Not because it's not a wonderful and beautiful letter. But it's actually pretty similar to the letter to Smyrna, which I wrote about just a few weeks ago. The letters to Smyrna and Philadelphia stand out among these seven letters to the Asian churches because they are the only ones that are completely positive. In the other five, Jesus reprimands the churches for some area of failing, but all he does is commend Smyrna and Philadelphia.

And why is Philadelphia commended? Because they've been holding on in the midst of adverse circumstances. They've been feeling the pressure of persecution. Those who belong to the "synagogue of Satan"--possibly Jews who have been stirring up trouble for the church among the Roman leaders--are trying to snuff the church out. But in spite of this, the believers have held on. They're resilient. They don't cave in to the threats and abuse that are poured out on them.

Why was the church at Philadelphia able to endure in this kind of situation? Why did the not crack in the shadow of persecution, while we might remain quiet about Christ for fear of what our co-workers might think of us? I think that the Philadelphians had laid hold of the hope that exists in the Christian life. In times of tribulation, that's often the only thing that can get us through--a knowledge and trust that things will change. When I'm in the trenches of the day as a cashier at Wal-mart, I can get through it because I know that at the end of the day, I'll be able to go home and eat a frozen pizza. And in a much more real way, the church won't be trampled on forever, because Jesus will come back, and his church will be vindicated.

That's the promise that Jesus makes to the church at Philadelphia. In verse 11: "I am coming soon." Those had to be such comforting words to the Philadelphians. They are reassured that they haven't been forgotten or abandoned by Christ. He's on his way. And he promises us too that he will come. So what does the church do in the meantime? "Hold on to what you have." We grip to the hope we have in Christ. We don't let it go for anything. That hope is like a rock-climber's rope.

A hope rope.

Hey, that rhymes!

Sorry about that. Anyways, that hope is like a rock-climber's rope. So we hold on to it for dear life. Because without the hope of Christ's return and the consummation of his kingdom, there isn't really anything to keep the church from falling off the cliff into despair.

Thankfully, our hope isn't one of those wishy-washy hopes that we usually have, sort of how I hope Katie the bank teller is sitting in the Cincinnati Chick-fil-A the next time I go there. No, our hope in Christ is sure, because he's the one with the "key of David" (v. 7) This is reference back to the description of Jesus in Revelation 1, where it is said that he holds the keys to death because he was dead but now is alive (1:18).

And it don't get more real than that.

Sardis: The Sleeping Church

I'm not much of a morning person. I really like to sleep. When I was a kid, my family was staying at a motel during a road trip, and in the middle of the night the smoke alarm in our room malfunctioned and went off. I didn't even wake up. Even just today, my alarm went off at 8:00, and I proceeded to turn it off and stay in bed for another hour. Especially as it's getting colder, it's tough to get out from under my nice warm blanket and get on my feet. That's inertia, right? An object at rest stays at rest. And when I'm at rest, I'm not apt to get in motion.

That's what was happening in one of the churches in the first century, but their spiritual laziness was a real danger. Here's what Jesus says in the fifth letter of Revelation, in Revelation 3:1-6:

To the angel of  the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have no soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

The church at Sardis looked pretty good on the outside. But Jesus knows their true state. They're asleep at the wheel. Even worse, he says that even though they look like they're alive, they're really dead. They might have the outer fixings, but they are internally weak.

An interesting bit of historical background is that, in Sardis' history as a city, there were a couple of times when the situation Jesus talks about literally came into play. Sardis was an exceptionally fortified city. It should have been nearly impossible to overtake militarily. And yet, not once, but twice, the city was overtaken because the guards were sleeping on the job. The city's enemies (Cyrus in the 6th century B.C. and Antiochus III in the third century B.C.) would send someone to climb up the city's walls and open the door to let the army in. The city was also captured on another occasion by Alexander the Great simply because they were afraid to face Alexander, even though they had what should have been an impenetrable fortress. So in a very literal way, Sardis had gotten into major trouble because they had been asleep, even though they looked strong on the outside.

The church in Sardis is spiritually asleep. But what is it about them that is evidence of this slumber? I think the answer is in verse 2: "I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God." The church as Sardis had only gone halfway. They perhaps had made some promises about how they would follow Christ, but they just didn't make it to the finish line. They were like the hare from the fable--fast out of the gates but settling down for a nap part way through the race. So what does Jesus say to them? Wake up! Get out of bed! Finish what you started!

If I can be honest, I feel like I relate more with the letter to Sardis than any of the other letters in Revelation 2-3. I'm a chronic non-finisher. I like to start projects and give them up after a while. About a month ago, I wrote a blog post about making goals to be the person you want to be, and when I made my own list, I included things like "Do the dishes every night" and "Clean my apartment every weekend" and several other simple practices that I wanted to get into the habit of doing. A few days ago I looked back at my list and realized that I kept up with only a few of my goals.

Those are small things. It becomes a bigger problem when that tendency affects our life in Christ. We dedicate ourselves to a certain task. We say that we'll set aside time every day to spend in Bible study and prayer. We promise to invite that coworker to church. We vow to get into an accountable relationship so that we can rid ourselves of a sin that keeps dogging us. But not long after, these tasks that we had undertaken remain undone. Our deeds are complete. And even though we might look pretty good on the outside ("That guy goes to church every Sunday. He must be a thriving Christian"), we've flatlined on the inside.

I think that Jesus would give many of us the same instruction that Paul gives to Archippus in Colossians 4:17: "See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord." I don't know what it was that Archippus was supposed to bring to completion, and I don't know what it is for you. I only know that, as Christians, we can never say that we have arrived. At least not until the day when Jesus returns and takes us home. We are always growing and maturing. God always has more work for us to do. I have heard it said that a Christian who is not growing is dead. There is no coasting in the Christian life. Or, as Craig Groeschel puts it, "If you're not dead, you're not done" (The Christian Atheist, pg. 137).

Here's an unrelated sidenote: At my church this last week, we had the chance to be visited by Mary Kamau, a Kenyan who directs a mission called Hope Missions International. Hope Missions reaches out to one of the slums in the Kenyan capital city of Nairobi. It was really cool to be able to listen to Mary and hear about the incredible work that is being done in one of the most destitute places on the planet. Hope Missions is one of the most holistic missions I have heard of. It's involved in church planting, business training, micro-loans, education, AIDS awareness, community development, and several other works. It's meeting individual spiritual needs, individual physical needs, and community needs. It was such an encouragement to hear how God is blessing this mission, which started just over ten years ago with a school for less than 50 children and now includes eleven schools with over 3000 children, plus all of the other programs. Anyways, I would encourage you to check out the mission's website at www.hopemissionsintl.org and to keep their work in your thoughts and prayers.

Thyatira: The Compromising Church

To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will striker he children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on you): Only hold on to what you have until I come. 

To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations--"He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like potter"--just as I have received authority from my Father. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (Rev. 2:18-29)

Jesus has a lot to say to the church in Thyatira. And honestly, a lot of it sounds pretty scary. He's pretty fired up about some of the things that are going on in Thyatira. He commends them for their love and faith. They're not doing everything wrong by any means. But there are some ways in which they aren't living up to what Christ has called them to be. Namely, they're compromising with the culture around them.

An important background fact about Thyatira is that trade guilds played a special role in that city. Basically, a trade guild was an organization of workers in a specific trade, kind of like a union today. The commercial life of Thyatira was built on these trade guilds. If you weren't part of the guild, it was hard, if not impossible, to make a living.
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This presented a problem for the Christians in Thyatira. As with most things in the ancient Roman world, the trade guilds were intertwined with idol worship. The guilds paid homage to certain patron gods. Thus, to be part of the guild, you had to go along with the idolatry, including its sex-charged worship through temple prostitution. (It's a good thing that unions today just make you sign a piece of paper and pay dues.)

It seems like the church in Thyatira was compromising with the everyday reality of idolatry around them. They were being influenced by "Jezebel"--a reference to perhaps the most despicable figure from the Old Testament. Jezebel was the queen of Israel and the wife of Ahab. Her claim to fame was in propagating the spread of idolatry throughout the kingdom, which eventually led to its annihilation at the hands of the Assyrians. And in this letter, the Christians in Thyatira are being tempted to compromise and be drawn away after idolatry and sexual immorality, just as the Israelites had been drawn away after Jezebel and her gods. To do otherwise was financial and social suicide. Surely God wouldn't blame them for caving in a little, right?

But God's reaction to such compromise isn't very cheerful reading. There's talk of a bed of suffering, intense suffering, and children struck dead. Not the kind of things that you would put on a banner and hang up in your church's sanctuary.

In his book Revelation's Rhapsody, Robert Lowery writes that in Revelation, we can see two dangers that the Asian churches faced. Two ways that Satan tried to get them to stumble. The first is persecution, which is a common theme throughout the book. We've already looked at that in the letter to Smyrna. But Satan's other tactic, and probably the more dangerous one, is cultural seduction. He wants to get the churches to conform to the world around them. That's what we see happening in Thyatira, and that's probably the more relevant threat to the American church today.

Christians should look different from the rest of the world. There's is a lot of talk in the church today about how we can be more relevant. And that's an important talk to have. We need creative and engaging ways to relate to the world around us. We shouldn't be afraid to change methods and styles so that our message can be heard. But let's not let go of holiness. Relevance doesn't mean we conform to sinful culture. If we don't that, we become the opposite of what we want to become. We become irrelevant because there is no longer anything that distinguishes us from anyone else. To the world, a message that doesn't change us isn't really worth listening to.

The call of Jesus in this letter is the same as we find in several of the others letters in Revelation 2-3: Repent. Turn around. Stop compromising. In Revelation 1:6, we are called a "kingdom and priests"--a description that God had used before of the nation of Israel (Exod. 19:6). As the church, we are God's holy people. We don't look like everyone else. We're aliens and sojourners. So let's dedicate ourselves to the holy lives we've been called to.

Pergamum: The Tolerant Church

Don't you hate it when you get a song that you don't even like stuck in your head? Maybe it comes on the radio while you're driving to work, and then you find yourself humming Ke$ha to yourself the rest of the afternoon. You kick yourself the rest of the day, thinking, "Jiminy, why didn't I just turn off the radio once it came on? Tik Tok. Why did I let myself listen to it for a whole three minutes. But the party don't stop."

In the third letter of Revelation 2-3--this time to the church at Pergamum--Jesus points out that they were allowing themselves to listen to some of the wrong people, and there is great danger in that. Here's what Jesus says in Revelation 2:12-17:

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.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.

The letter starts out with a commendation for those in the church at Pergamum: They've remained faithful under pressure. They live in a city that is opposed to Christ. It's a city where "Satan has his throne" (a possible reference to an altar to the Greek god Zeus that stood on top of the mountain in Pergamum). The pressure on the church was so great, in fact, that one of its members, Antipas, has lost his life. But in spite of all of this, the believers in Pergamum stood pat and didn't retreat from Christ.

But the church there is also playing with fire. They've been tolerating some dangerous voices within the church. There are some who "hold to the teaching of Balaam" (cf. Num. 22-25). The also permit the Nicolaitans into their midst. We don't know much about what the Nicolaitans taught, but it seems like they advocated antinomianism (no law), claiming that freedom in Christ might freedom to engage in whatever sin one chooses.

Basically, the church at Pergamum had become tolerant.

I hesitate to use the word "tolerant" because it's such an common one in our day and age. I read somewhere that tolerance has become perhaps the most important "virtue" in contemporary culture. We are told over and over again to be tolerant of others, and to be labeled "intolerant" is a major slam. It can seem like the message of our culture today is that no one is really wrong, only different. So every belief, characteristic, or lifestyle must be accepted and celebrated.

Of course, such unqualified open-mindedness doesn't mesh well with Christian truth. As a result, some Christians glory in their intolerance. It's almost as if they are boasting in intolerance, in effect shouting, "Yeah, I think you're wrong. I'm intolerant. So bite me."

That may not be the best approach. As Christians, we should hold unswervingly to the the truth of God's word, but we still need to approach issues with grace and love. Otherwise, we come off like jerks.

All of that is a diversion, however. The point is that the church at Pergamum had become tolerant of some teachers in their midst who were espousing falsehood. And instead of correcting this errant teaching, the church was letting it slide. They weren't standing up for truth. They were taking a "live and let live" attitude. What they needed to do was to draw a line in the sand and firmly say, "This is unacceptable teaching." But instead, they kept listening to things that weren't good for them.

Tik Tok.

I think the letter to Pergumum is an important warning even to us today. It warns us about being careful who we listen to. We can tend to tolerate people who spout out all sorts of ideas that are contrary to Christ, whether they are friends, authors, radio personalities, politicians, professors, or whoever. And while being open to all new ideas and seeking greater general understanding is important, there comes a point when we need to say, "Enough is enough." Because not every idea is a good idea, and not every teaching is worth listening to. Tolerance of such garbage only gets it stuck in your head, and things stuck in your head start to work their way into your actions.

But the party don't stop.

Crap. Now it really is stuck in my head.