Jesus tells the church in Pergamum that they have people there teaching Balaam’s doctrine. You remember Balaam, don’t you? The one whose donkey talked to him? He was also the one that led the Midianite women to seduce the Israelite men as part of the worship of their gods.
In the book, I discuss the connection between Balaam and Pergamum:
The Jews had long used Balaam as an example of false teachers who will say what is convenient in order to get paid, as an example of religious compromise, and as an example of the dangers of not taking immorality seriously. Jesus could refer to Balaam here, and his readers would know exactly what he was talking about. The worship of many pagan gods also involved sexual immorality, so the parallels were easy to see. Seemingly, the Nicolaitans were guilty of teaching the same compromise with the world, the same easing of moral restrictions, the same religious infidelity. This is the sin of accommodation, of giving in to the pressures of a society that is away from God. The pressure to conform would have been strong, especially in a city where many of the jobs would have depended on the good graces of the Roman government. Civil servants don’t tend to make good revolutionaries. People in Pergamum would have wanted to keep the emperor happy, even if it meant falsely worshiping him as a god.
(Letters From The Lamb, pp. 82-83)
While the enticements offered may not be the same, the temptation to compromise with the world is just as strong today as it was then. We may not be worshiping pagan gods or performing ritualistic sex acts, but each time that we split our loyalty between God and something else, we are falling into the trap that Balaam set for the Israelites.
In what ways do you see Christians being pressured to compromise today?
Oh my, where do we start…lol.. I will be nice.. but the phrase I abhor is “God and country”. I don’t think the two should even be on the same level. We compromise a LOT as westerners. It is a difficult topic, but if we read Matthew 5-7 clearly, we will see what we are doing in relation to your point Sir. Thanks for the reminder, great post!
Thanks Trent. There definitely can be an idolatrous relationship between people and their country. I don’t think that’s always the case, but it’s a real danger that people need to be aware of.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
When I read the part about religious compromise I thought about our own fellowship’s history as it realtes to our colleges. At the beginning of WWI, Churches of Christ were almost unanimously passifist. Then as one college folded because of such an unpopular position for the times, the majority of the fellowship and its other colleges began to change their ethical position. Hmmn…
Grace and peace,
Rex
A couple of corrections… 1) I am referring to WWII and not WWI. 2) I meant to say “Pacafists” rather than the mispelled atrocity I made.
Grace and peace,
Rex
Or did you mean “pacifists”? ;-)
I believe the closing occurred during WWI, although the move away from pacifism occurred during WWII. I could be mistaken.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
Rex we all knew what you were saying
passifist
Pacafist
or Pacifist
It doesn’t matter. :)