The Church at Thyatira – Church of Tolerance
Revelation 2:18-29
The New Tolerance
Any kind of look at our current culture, you can see there is a tolerance that has been around and it pervades everything and this banner is one of tolerance - it flies bold and strong. The new tolerance is this…
Accept & approve all choices and belief systems
without discrimination unless it is Christianity.
One of the major tenants of Postmodern thought is a rejection of all Truth claims made by the Bible, plus Postmodernism rejects all major places of authority like government, the church, police, etc. An individual’s truth becomes their sole means of truth. In a world like ours, the many standards of truth become the standard of truth for any and every situation. For those who embrace postmodernism, they will contradict their beliefs often and never wince at the lunacy of how they have become like a chameleon.
All around us, we are seeing the fruit & fulfillment of Post-modernism where at one time in our western cultures, we had a singular standard for seeing the world in regard to truth – the Bible. All of this has changed as Truth is no longer defined by from a Biblical perspective, but now everything has become relative and highly individualistic. Our day is not only marked by everyone having the freedom to believe whatever they want, but there has been a dramatic shift within the last decade where everyone else now is to accept “as normal” these beliefs and lifestyle choices.
It is pushed everywhere that everyone should just ACCEPT & APPROVE everyone’s choices as an equal truth with one another – EXCEPT CHRISTIANITY, as our faith is becoming more and more under attack from all corners - as it is seen as narrow and intolerant!
As our understanding of Absolute Truth continues to erode all around us, we continue to see the result of this erosion in the decay of so many things we once held as true.
Since our culture is on this quest to have every opinion and view to be on the same level, it is natural that this openness to all things has drifted into the church.
Our culture’s truth has become Permissive Tolerance,
and the meaning of truth is to allow any and everything people want.
As Christ-followers, we are now at a place where what we hold as true and dear as doctrine is seen by the government and the culture as dogmatically disgusting & discriminatory.
Christ-followers are to stay the course in Absolute Biblical Truth
as our sole standard and measure for life.
As we come to the church in Thyatira in Revelation, we will see this drift on full display in of all places – a local church in a city.
Let’s look at the background of Thyatira…
2:18a “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira…”
Again, Jesus speaks to the leader of the church as its representative and the one responsible for the church’s direction.
Smallest city of the 7
It was located a bit over 40 miles southeast of the city of Pergamum, and one can trace its start all the way back to Alexander the Great - 300 years before Christ. After Alexander, Seleucus I Nicator, who had served as an infantry general under Alexander the Great, took on the task of developing the city more and in time, it became a Macedonian colony.
Location
You could find Thyatira strategically located on the Lycus River and in a place where the Hermus and Caicus valleys were connected. It was an important place in the Roman road system as a frontier garrison and postal route. Many people traveled this road and it led through Thytira on their way somewhere else.
The Name
It does not have a great name as it means “Unceasing Sacrifice”. Because of its location, it likely was a place that took on through the years attacks from the kingdom in power’s enemies. Enemies would naturally come first to Thyatira. The city would often begin the battle, hold the line long enough for a great army to come and fight. This consistent reality led to the city being destroyed and rebuilt a number of times throughout its history.
Commerce – Blue Collar Region
It was different than the other cities in that it was much more blue collar in nature. With it being more on flat ground in the plain of two valleys, it led it to have many unions of trade, so if you worked in one of these trades, you joined the group and became a member. To be a success in your business, required one to join the local union.
They also were places of idolatry and immorality. If you read Acts 19, you see one of these types that brought about a riot in the city. Since they embraced many gods, each of the trade unions had their own god, who was often worshiped at these meetings. For a Christ-follower in Thyatira, it was really difficult to operate your business in a Christ-honoring way.
Purple Dye
Thyatira was central for the development of a purple dye what came from the mudder root, which led to much making of purple clothing.
Gateway City
In some ways, it became a gateway entrance/city for neighboring Pergamum as if someone was going to Pergamum, you had to travel through Thyatira. In 190BC, Rome captured the city and it finally had peace.
Religion
Unlike the previous 3 cities, Thyatira was not well-known for great temples or emperor worship, though the worship of other gods and the emperor would have been practice. It was though, a big center of occult worship where fortune-telling was fully embraced and was led by a woman name Sambathe.
The main god of the city was Apollo, which makes sense as he was the sun god and the region relied heavily on agriculture.
Church’s possible founding – Acts 16:14-15
Acts 16:11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
It is possible that upon returning to Thyatira, Lydia may have been influential in the starting of this church.
The Longest and Strongest Criticism from Jesus is to Thyatira
This was the most corrupt of all seven churches, so it is natural that it gets the strongest word from Jesus.
Someone in our day in time could say, “Why didn’t the Christians in the church just go to another church? You know, take their membership to 2nd Baptist Thyatira. They did not because at that time, there was just one church in a city and if you lived there and went to this church, this was your option.
In the church at Thyatira, you would meet some fine people, but you would also find a highly dysfunctional church that you would not have wanted to be a member of if you had another choice.
No comments:
Post a Comment