The Church in Pergamum: The Compromising Church

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Romans 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

NKJV

Pergamum, a city located in what is now modern day Turkey sits in ruins.  However, when the Apostle John wrote his letter to the church located there, it was one of the most influential cities in the Roman Empire.  As a political center, Pergamum was where rulings affecting the whole of Asia Minor originated.  The people of Pergamum were also inventors and innovators.  (1) 

Pergamum was also a center for the worship of Dionysus, Zeus, and other pagan gods.  This is most likely why Revelation 2:13 refers to Pergamum as the place where Satan dwells.  (2)  Christianity presented a threat to the city’s pagan worship, resulting in much animosity towards Christians in the city.  This animosity escalated to the martyring of Antipas, possibly the first Christian martyr in Asia.  (3)

Even though God commends the church for remaining true to the faith in the middle of great animosity from the pagan worship of the city, the church was not perfect for some in the congregation held to the teachings of Balaam.  (2)  There were also some in the congregation holding to the teachings of the Nicolaitans.  Balaam’s teaching was an effort to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols (Numbers 25:1-3, Numbers31:15-16).  Even though we are free in Christ and at liberty to eat all foods, not all believers share that knowledge and may equate eating of food offered to an idol as permission to worship that idol (1 Corinthians 8:4-13).  The church in Pergamum most likely consisted of many coming out of pagan worship so the teachings of Balaam would be an obstacle to these new believers and represented a danger. 

As for the teachings of the Nicolaitans, theologians are mixed.  One view is that they were a cult either following, or perverting, the teachings of Nicolas, one of the seven men chosen by the congregation in Acts 6:5.  It is interesting to note that the Balaam and Nicolaitans have similar meanings in their derivative languages with Balaam meaning “swallowers of the people” and Nicolaitans “conquerors of the people.”  (4)  In other words, in his letter to the Church in Pergamum, John is warning them of false teaching that threatens to swallow and conquer the church. 

In our post-modern society, churches today face similar pressure to compromise on beliefs clearly outlined in scripture.  Christian business people come under pressure to compromise on their values by facing fines for not baking a cake for a same sex wedding.  (5)  Christian government employees face jail time for refusing to license same sex marriages, which violate their Christian values, values protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  (6) (7)  Christian owned businesses are also mandated by law to provide health insurance, which includes contraceptives and abortion inducing drugs.  (8) 

These well known cases do represent a threat to Christian values but the pastor of my church recently made our congregation aware of something even more disturbing.  In a the spring 2009 issue of Knowing and Doing, cited a major study conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life on religious affiliation, beliefs, and practices in the United States.  The study’s findings revealed that 70 percent of all Americans believe that many religions can lead to eternal life.  On its own, this finding would not be surprising in the context of our post modernistic society.  However, the study also revealed that 65 percent of all self-identifying Christians believe in multiple paths to eternal life.  (9)   

This is in direct opposition to Jesus statement that He is the only way to salvation and eternal life (John 14:6-7).  Therefore, for a professed believer in Jesus Christ as savior to claim there are many ways to salvation and eternal life is to say that Jesus statement in John 14:6-7 is untrue.  If Jesus statement is untrue, Jesus lied and if Jesus lied, he is not without sin and therefore disqualified from being the sinless Lamb of God.  Fortunately, for us all, Jesus claim is totally true. 

What is disturbing about this finding is that it illustrates how many Christians have compromised their faith by accepting other ways to salvation.  Perhaps these people see other well-meaning people who have morals and have difficulty believing that a loving God would condemn them to death for not accepting Jesus as their Messiah.  However, the belief in other paths to salvation is a slap in the face of God who gave the world his only Son as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of fallen humanity.  I urge anyone reading this that has fallen for this Balaamic and Nicolaitianic type compromise to search scripture and realize that Jesus Christ is the only path to salvation and eternal life. 

It is great that the Church takes a stand politically and socially against issues like abortion and gay marriage but like the Church in Pergamum, let us not compromise on the foundational belief that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation for the only answer our lost and dying world has to its problems is Jesus Christ. 

1. The 700 Club. The Seat of Satan: Ancient Pergamum. www1.cbn.com. [Online] CBN. [Cited: October 11, 2015.] www1.cbn.com/700club/seat-satan-ancient-pergamum.

2. Got Questions.org. What was Jesus' Message to the Church in Pergamum in Revelation. www.gotquestions.org. [Online] Got Questions.org. [Cited: October 11, 2015.] www.gotquestions.org/church-in-Pergamum.html.

3. Biblegateway. The Message to Pergamum. www.biblegateway.com. [Online] Biblegateway.com. [Cited: October 11, 2015.] https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/rev/Message-Pergamum.

4. Biblestudytools.com. Nicolaitans. www.biblestudytools.com. [Online] Biblestudytools.com. [Cited: October 11, 2015.] www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/revelation/related-topics/nicolaitans.html.

5. Smith, Samuel. Oregon christian Bakers Ordered to Pay $135K After Refusing to Work Gay Wedding; Told to Stop Speaking About 'ObeyGod, Not Man'. www.christianpost.com. [Online] The Christian Post, July 3, 2015. [Cited: August 26, 2015.] www.christianpost.com/news/oregon-christian-bakers-ordered-to-pay-135k-after-refusing-to-work-gay-wedding-told-to-stop-speaking-about-obeying-god-now-man-141137/.

6. AP. Kentucky Clerk in Gay Marriage Case Ordered to Jail. www.6abc.com. [Online] ABC 6, September 3, 2015. [Cited: September 7, 2015.] www.6abc.com/news/kentucky-clerk-in-gay-marriage-case-ordered-to-jail/968407.

7. The U.S. National Archives & Records Administration. The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription. www.archives.gov. [Online] [Cited: August 6, 2013.] http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/print_friendly.html?page=constitution_transcript_content.html&title=The%20Constitution%20of%20the%20United%20States%3A%20A%20Transcription.

8. Patterson, Tom. Patterson: Hobby Lobby decision a narrow win for liberty. www.eastvalleytribune.com. [Online] East Valley Tribune, July 11, 2014. [Cited: July 11, 2014.] http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/columns/east_valley_voices/article_b1c88b88-0892-11e4-b2c7-0019bb2963f4.html.

9. Ph.D., Dennis P. Hollinger. Is Jesus Really the Only Way to God. Knowing & Doing. 2009,Spring 2009.