PERGAMUM

Feb 24
3 min read

The C word

There is a story in the Bible about a man named Balaam. Balaam was a prophet of God who one day was asked by Balak to come and curse the people of Israel. We all know that the people of Israel were God’s children. God’s special babies. So how would He allow that to happen? Balaam wanted to go because Balak promised to reward him greatly. So with time, God told Balaam to go, but when he gets there, to say what God has instructed him to say, which was to bless the people of God instead of cursing them. And that’s exactly what happened (Numbers 22-24).

Now this is where it got tricky.

Because Balaam was unable to curse them, he advised Balak to seduce the Israelites into sin by having the Midianite and Moabite women to entice the men into idolatry and sexual immoralities (Numbers 25:1-3; Numbers 31:16; Revelation 2:14). So although Balaam didn’t curse them directly, he gave Balak advice which he knew would cause God to be angry at the Israelites. And without God, who were the Israelites?

In Revelation 2:14, it mentioned that the church of Pergamum tolerated people “whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin.” Balaam stands for a person who knows God but helps God’s people sin without feeling like they are rebelling. Balaam doesn’t tell you directly to leave God. Balaam will tell you to blend in just enough that it doesn’t cost you. The spirit of Balaam is the spirit of compromise and today, that compromise can come through culture pressures. “Don’t leave God but also don’t forget the culture”. The trajectory has shifted from ‘What does God say?’ to ‘What will people say?’ This is how culture silently becomes the doorway through which compromise enters the church.

Culture is beautiful but when culture becomes the centre in church, it becomes dangerous. When culture solely becomes the format in which the church follows, it can be like cancer. It starts small at one region of the body, then with time it progresses to another region of the body. When you catch it at an earlier stage, it is good, because it is curable. When it is left for a long time, it spreads to many places and when you’re unlucky, there is not cure; and the end result is terminal. When culture becomes the main focus point in the church, it spreads into many aspects of the church and it kills the church. The way culture takes over the church is you can hear people say “that part of the Bible isn’t relevant now”, “if we talk about sin, we lose the congregation”, “God just wants us to be happy so be yourself”, “God understands”, “God looks at the heart”, “we need to teach what people want to hear so they can come to church” and that is wrong!

The method of Balaam does not destroy people from the outside. It causes people to slowly drift until their faith looks just like the surrounding culture. Although we “live in the city where Satan has his throne, (Revelation 2:13), we need to remain loyal. We need to have the strength to live differently even when culture pushes hard. We need to discern and react! Culture doesn’t come like an enemy! It comes as “everyone is doing this, so we also can”. But we need to be able to distinguish between what truly is of God and what can cause us to enter into the world without realising. We need to open our eyes and stay faithful to the Lord. The world is changing, that’s true! But one thing that will never change is the Word of God. If we use the Word as our guide and not the things changing in the world, we will remain faithful and loyal to God. Remember, John 14:30 says "the ruler of the world is coming" (the devil), and my question for you today is, will he have a claim over you?

Prayer: Father, we thank You and we bless Your Holy name. God, we live in a world that if one is not careful, we will end up in the world. We ask that You have mercy on us and that You help us stay on the path You have set for us. May we not drift in Jesus’ name, Amen.