In writing to the church in Thyatira, Jesus talks about a false prophetess in the church there, a woman that he calls Jezebel. That wouldn’t have been her real name. This was a reference to the Old Testament queen that tried to impose a foreign religion on the Israelites.

This Jezebel was also promoting a false religion. Thyatira was a town with strong labor unions; each of these unions aligned itself with a pagan god, holding meetings in the temple of their patron. Christians had to choose between participating in idolatry or committing professional suicide.

What appears to have been going on here was that this woman, this self-proclaimed prophetess, was teaching the Christians that it was all right for them to participate fully in the activities of the trade guilds in Thyatira. The argument would be that it was necessary professionally, that these religious rites were merely “social rites” which had no meaning. Possibly she would have argued, as did some Corinthians before her, that since false gods aren’t really gods, Christians do nothing wrong by participating in their “worship.” This was an issue which had troubled the church in Corinth, and Paul had taught them in no uncertain terms that accommodation was not the answer. Christians cannot “play” at worshiping other gods; worship is for our God and for him alone. Worship activities, even when directed to false beings, are not mere actions; they affect our hearts, our very being. Participating in the worship of false gods is unfaithfulness to the true God. It is spiritual immorality, religious adultery.

(Letters From The Lamb, pp. 100-101)

Again, there can be no compromise between the church and the world. There can be no divided loyalty. Even when our professions or prosperity are at stake, we must choose in favor of God.