Letter Three

“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.’” ~Revelation 2:12 

While Smyrna was blessed to receive no criticism from Christ, Pergamum is nearly on the other side of the spectrum, being chastised for their compromise with the culture. Yes, there are words of commendation, but there are “a few things” Jesus has against them. Oh, to be faithful to the Lord! Yet how often are we enticed by the sweet whispers of forked-tongued teachers and the alluring wiles of the wicked world?

Our letter starts off well enough. Like Smyrna, the intense heat of persecution was felt daily. But the temperature was much hotter for the saints at Pergamum, where their enemies had graduated from slander to slaying. No longer was prison merely a looming danger (Rev. 2:10). Martyrdom was a present reality — dear Antipas had been killed for his faith (Rev. 2:13)! Yet in the midst of this, the believers in Pergamum held fast to Christ’s name and had not denied their faith. This likely refers to the imperial cult of emperor worship that required citizens to honor Caesar as a god, which they had clearly refused to do. 

Well, Satan has been a strategist for millennia, patiently working out what tactics are most likely to have the desired impact. His playbook is vast and studied, and he knows the gravitational pulls of our sinful hearts. When persecution stops driving people from Christ, pleasure is sure to do the trick. Where danger no longer creates dread, cultural accommodation promotes doctrinal drift. 

Jesus’ reference to Balaam and the Nicolaitans is meant to expose the way compromise had been normalized among the Christians at Pergamum. Like Balaam of old, these teachers were training God’s people to accommodate idolatry and sexual immorality under a religious veneer. The danger was not outright rejection of Christ, but participation in the practices of the surrounding pagan world while still claiming His name. In this way the church had begun to drift from holiness into conformity, loosening their grip on the Word of God — the very sword by which Christ would judge their sin — in order to remain at ease within the culture around them.

Friends, is there a more apt description of life as a Christian in twenty-first century America? Harsh persecution — that is, state-sponsored imprisonment and martyrdom — are not typical for us today. We worship in relative freedom. The pressing threat to us is cultural accommodation and theological carelessness, just as it was to the saints in Pergamum. 

The stumbling blocks of false teaching, watered-down doctrine, sexual compromise, and even antinomianism, are prevalent in our land. This letter is a stark reminder to us that we need to hold fast to Jesus’ name, walk faithfully in His way, and flee from that which will cause us to stumble — be it in what we believe or how we live. In doing so, we become conquerors — not by our strength, but by His, for He Himself makes us more than conquerors. Oh, to be faithful to the Lord!

Rev. Kyle Lockhart, Pastor