Week 52 Case 3 Pergamum
A key issue in the Pergamum church was that there were unsavory members in attendance. John didn’t name personal names but he did identify two groups of people: 1) ones who were like Balaam and 2) ones who were Nicolaitans. The groups were likely different. But both promoted similar teachings:
A) Idol worship was okay
B)Prohibited sexual activities weren’t prohibited any more.
Some of the church people in Pergamum had gone along with these less-restrictive & more-progressive new teachings.
Exactly how this played out in real church life is hard to know. John had already admitted that Pergamum was the place where the great throne of Satan is located but that in spite of their (terrible) location you have remained loyal to (the Lord). So…some members were definitely loyal followers of the Lord. But some had cozied-up to Balaam and/or the Nicolaitans.
So it sounds like two things are going on at the same time. Some being true to the Lord AND some practicing idolatry & taboo sex. Goods and Bads running along parallel tracks right down the centre aisle of the church.
But one of the things that’s clear in the NT: that’s isn’t how the church can run. Loyalty can’t be tracking in lockstep with disloyalty and so John’s advice is pretty short and pretty clear: Repent.
Pergamum wouldn’t last forever with their dual-track congregation. Something had to change or it would eventually quit being a church.
Note: Revelation 2:12-17. Quotes from 2:13 16 17 (NLT)