If any church is close to the one I attend it would be Pergamos. First because of our placement in the U.S.A. we feel secure, we feel as if we know everything, and we live in a place where man is elevated above God thus Satan has his throne here. Exactly like Pergamos who boasted in their security and their great wealth of knowledge in their famous library, as well as their polytheistic way of life in particular to Caesar, Zeus, and Asclepius. We see a split in the church in that some were faithful and true and did not compromise but there was a group within that were dabbling in paganism and idolatry in order to "fit in" to the world around them. They adopted the sinful practices of the culture around them in so doing you could not tell the Christians from the non-Christians. The "doctrine of Balaam, and the teaching of the Nicolaitains" in a nutshell was simply compromise and tolerance of immorality. I think we see this also in the carnal church at Corinth in the N.T. We see this pressure to co-exist/tolerance/fit - in to the world around us today in phrases such as how will we reach the lost if we don't blend in, or we don't want to offend anyone, or God loves everyone, and our church is buying in I believe.
What I see is a small group of people worshiping Jehovah as well as at other altars of the world, in particular the altar of sexual immorality and worldliness. We come and raise our hands on Sunday then go out into the world and act as the world does especially on social media! We are called to come out and be separate, and to be holy. Alcohol is widely abuse too! Yes I know we have liberty to drink but Paul said "all things are lawful but all things are not expedient." why play around with it and cause others to stumble? Because we want to live in the world and fit in. Yes, we are living in a modern day Pergamos/Babylon with many occasions t compromise our faith!
Three exhortations to resolve this overly tolerant situation: 1) Prayer, 2) More one on one discipleship and accountability, 3) Some good solid preaching from the book of Daniel on how to survive and live a godly life in the midst of Babylon. We ALL need to repent and ask the Holy Spirit to break our hearts over sin that we can be like Job who God said "hates sin." The toughest part I think which needs to happen is confronting people in as loving way as possible about these situations and if they refuse to repent to remove them from boards and positions of leadership. The Lord will not bless sin, or smile upon the Nicolaitians who use God's grace as a license to sin. Paul makes it very clear in Rom. 6 Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? GOD FORBID! The Lord is coming for a church without spot or wrinkle, I pray we be found like Antipas faithful to the end.
Derek-Very well written and searching post. I appreciate the fact that You highlight the problem with living contrary to the word of God and using grace as a license to sin. For all churches in America, we are quickly being surrounded by the "throne of Satan." We must hold fast to what we believe, and rid ourselves of such unrighteousness. I think your action steps are well founded also. I appreciate that Jesus speaks of himself as the one who has the sharp double-edged sword to this church. We hear in Hebrews that the Word of God is described similarly. If we are going to find ourselves standing faithful to the end, we need to allow the Word of God to cut through us, and teach us how we should live. Great job-Grade-100