Avid hikers are used to receiving warnings before setting off on their favourite trails—“beware loose stones,” “watch for bears,” “look out for falling trees.” However, in 2021, apparently there’s a new hazard that demands caution: The selfie. Says one New York news outlet, “what many people don’t think about is that every year dozens of people across the country are injured or killed by taking a selfie and not watching their footing. Many park officials have put up signs and barriers to keep hikers safe on popular trails, but many people ignore them and get as close as possible to the edges of cliffs and waterfalls to get the perfect photo.”¹

Wanting to capture the moment, danger and warnings are ignored to potentially harmful and fatal ends. Like these determined shutterbugs, the church of Jesus Christ can become distracted well—whether by hardship or success—to the point of ignoring warning signs, sacrificing footing, and risking harm to ourselves, one another, and the mission we’ve been entrusted with.

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¹ https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/weather/2021/06/25/the-risk-of-getting-the-perfect-selfie-when-hiking

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Hikers are used to seeing warning signs before setting off on their favourite trails—“beware loose stones,” “watch for bears,” “look out for falling trees.” However, in 2021, apparently there’s a new hazard that demands caution: The selfie.

A couple of weeks ago, a local news outlet in Central New York posted this on their website: 

It is that time of year when many of us head out to local parks to go for a nice hike and enjoy the beautiful weather. Of course, you want to capture the moment by taking a selfie in front of a waterfall, a soaring view, or the edge of a cliff. However, what many people don’t think about is that every year dozens of people across the country are injured or killed by taking a selfie and not watching their footing. 

Many park officials have put up signs and barriers to keep hikers safe on popular trails, but many people ignore them and get as close as possible to the edges of cliffs and waterfalls to get the perfect photo.

In wanting to capture the moment, warnings are ignored, danger is flirted with, to potentially harmful and fatal ends.

Like these photogenic hikers, the church can sometimes become distracted to the point of ignoring warning signs and risking harm to ourselves, one another, and the mission we’ve been entrusted with.

In his message to the church at Pergamum in Revelation 2:12–17, Christ reminds his people of the importance of watching our theological footing even while enjoying a season of faithfulness.

An Area of Success

The church in Pergamum was doing a lot of things well. Christ begins this message by commending them for an area of success.

‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

Revelation 2:13

The trail these believers were hiking was beautiful and they were making great progress, but it was difficult terrain! They were living in a city that was anti-Christ in its culture. It was where Satan’s throne was and where Satan dwells.

The throne represents the epicentre of ruling authority. A queen may rule a large kingdom but it’s in the throne-room where her authority is most potent and her attention most focused.

In some way first-century Pergamum was a place of uniquely intense satanic influence. It was the locus of his power. And that’s where these Christians lived. I think it’s safe to say that, at this time, there was no place on earth where the battle of the two cosmic thrones raged hotter. The people of God versus the people of the devil. And the people of God were behind Enemy lines.

Does this sound relatable at all? I’m not sure I could be convinced that Oakville is Satan’s throne-room, that we’re receiving special attention from the Adversary, but perhaps he holidays here. It sure seems like we’re progressively behind enemy lines.

For the believers in Pergamum, in spite of the difficult terrain they were navigating, they remained faithful. Notice the collection of first-person pronouns in verse 13. They may have been living in Satan’s backyard but these Christians were committed to Christ, even to the point of martyrdom, exemplified in this Antipas, of whom we know nothing more than this.

They were clinging to Christ’s name, meaning they were loyal to Jesus though it brought hardship. They refused to denigrate their Saviour, no matter the cost. They were also clinging to Christ’s faith—that is, personal trust in Jesus—even when a brother was murdered for it.

It’s for this faithfulness that the believers are being commended. It’s an area of success for this church. And as the message closes, they’re reminded of the incentives and rewards for such faithfulness. 

‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’

Revelation 2:17

Again, Jesus invites all to listen at this point and says, all who overcome through faith in him will be given three things: hidden manna, a white stone, and a new name. While it’s unclear to us what each of these items are, what is clear is that they’re good things—rewards—and that the original audience knew what they were.

The hidden manna clearly alludes to the heavenly bread God sustained Israel with in the wilderness (Ex 16; Num 11). Christ seems to be saying that, like with Israel in the wilderness, in the future he’ll provide for believers all they need. We’ll be totally satiated. The manna is hidden because, during the current age it’s in heaven with Christ, waiting to be revealed when he returns.

As for the white stone, this may harken back to the ten commandments, God’s moral law, inscribed upon tablets of stone (see Deut 27:1–4). If this is what’s being referred to in Revelation 2, then Christ is promising a pure memorial to the moral law of God into which the glorified believer will be in the end (Rom 8:30).

Finally, the new name could refer to the finalization of our adoption into God’s family when he has consummated all things and that no one knows but he who receives it speaks to the intimacy between our Heavenly Father and the one adopted. 

So, when all is said and done, when overcomers stand before God in the new heavens and new earth, we’ll have all we need to sustain us, we’ll be monuments to God’s perfect morality, and our new identities with him as his children will be finalized.

Any way you understand these incentives, these rewards, they’re good news. And the believers in Pergamum were being reminded of what they have ahead of them because they were enduring an anti-Christ culture with faithfulness to Christ. This was an area of success. It was difficult terrain they were hiking, but they were making progress.

We need to understand that faithfulness to Christ is always its own reward. Every time you, your family, or our church makes a decision to follow Christ instead of the world—no matter how small we may think it is—it’s approved by God, never a waste, never unnoticed, and will never go unrewarded. Faithfulness to Christ is always its own reward.

Every time you say no to a temptation. Every time you choose to forgive rather than seek revenge. Every time you seek unity rather than division. Every time we pray for divine aid rather than handle things ourselves. Every time we teach the next generation how much better God’s ways are then the “progress” being touted by our culture. Every time we decide to obey God even when we don’t understand how his way is better. All of those acts of faithfulness to Christ, his name, his faith, in the face of opposition are never wasted. They are seen, commended, and will be rewarded.

A Flaw to Address

While the believers in Pergamum were experiencing great success in the their faithfulness to Christ, there was one area in which they were vulnerable to slip and fall. They had a flaw to address.

‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.’

Revelation 2:14–15

The contrast is jarring. From the sacrificial faithfulness of Antipas to the errors of Balaam and the Nicolatians being repeated in Pergamum. 

The account of Balaam is found in Numbers 22–25. Israel’s army was conquering the Promised Land and they had camped near Moab, a pagan city of which Balak was king. This made Balak understandably nervous because he’d heard about Israel and so he frantically sent for Balaam, a prophet of Yahweh, Israel’s God, who the king figured he could pay to curse the Israelites.

Eventually, Balak convinced Balaam to come and see this massive Israelite army camped against him and offered him wealth and honour to curse them. But, Balaam said, “I can only say what God tells me to say” and three times he ends up blessing the people of Israel in front of Balak rather than cursing them. This, obviously infuriated the desperate king of Moab and he sent Balaam home with no reward.

Later, however, Balaam, figured out a way to get his reward without directly cursing the people of Israel. He advised the Moabites to use more subterfuge methods and entice Israel with prostitutes and idolatry. Moab did, Israel fell into sin, and God punished them.

So, while speaking the words of God, Balaam introduced elements of pagan theology for the purpose of personal gain. It wasn’t wholesale heresy—he hadn’t been able to do that. The flaw was syncretism, blending religions and worldviews. He encouraged small compromises.

That’s what Christ is calling Pergamum out on. While they’ve been largely faithful, they’re also tolerating unconnected people who are promoting compromise, seeking to combine elements of the demonic culture with worship of the one true God. We’re not told the exact facets of the culture they’re taking—we don’t need to know—just that they are not being as careful with their theological footing as they should be and that can, as the story of Balaam illustrates, lead to devastating results.

As Andrew mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we don’t know a whole lot about the Nicolatians but it seems they’re similar to Balaam—characterized by sloppy theology and licentious living.

Jesus commends this church for a significant area of success—they were being faithful to Christ in Satan’s backyard. But there was also a flaw to address—they’re tolerating people in their midst who, while perhaps saying the right things about Christ, are also incorporating anti-Christ thinking into their faith and spreading it through the church.

This is a risk in every age, every church, every home, and every life. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, we all face the temptation to soften convictions and capitulate to our culture just a touch. And we justify things so creatively. 

“It’s just pornography; I mean, most people watch it. It’s not like I’m actually cheating on anyone.”

“We’re basically married anyway, sex is fine.”

“That view of race and gender is taught in schools and universities by smart people, it must not be totally devoid of merit.”

“God wants us to rest and Sundays are my only day to do that so, making the inconvenient choice to gather with God’s people isn’t totally essential.”

“I mean, we all use the word ‘God,’ so there’s really no difference between Christians, Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and all the rest.”

The ways we’re tempted to compromise, blend, and soften are countless. And, make no mistake, like Balaam, when we do that it is for personal gain. We may not be making money, but we often think we’re softening the pressure for the anti-Christ world around us. 

Pergamum was doing this. They had become distracted on their hike and they had drawn too close to the cliff, ignoring the warning signs. This was their flaw to address. And how are they to do that?

‘Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.

Revelation 2:16

They’ve got to repent. See their error and turn back to full commitment to Christ. Rid their lives of the syncretism, false teaching, and compromise that had set in while they were unawares. 

And this repentance has a few characteristics I want to point out. First, they’re to repent with accuracy. Find the hole and plug it. They’re to repent with urgency. Do it now because Christ is coming quickly. They’re to repent with intensity. Full turn. Take it seriously. And they’re to repent with sympathy. Go after those people stuck in the way of Balaam because I’m coming quickly. Rescue them. Help them. 

This church had a lot going for it and was commended for a great area of success. But they had a flaw to address: They had some in their midst who were compromising truth and they had to repent of that apathy, that carelessness. That had to realign themselves with total commitment to Christ. 

Purge or Be Purged!

Essentially, Christ is telling the church at Pergamum and the church at Oakville, Purge or be purged! Deal with the leaks in your ship or Christ is going to do it when he returns. And it will be war with the sword of his mouth, with truth. It will be swift and total and final.

The future of our church family depends on fidelity to the teachings of Christ. If we compromise, it we tolerate any teachings of the world and allow them to colour or dictate what we do, it will be a matter of time before we sink. We must purge our lives of any syncretism and realign ourselves with what the believers in Pergamum were commended for before their rebuke.

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