Why is America going adrift?
I have a confession to make. Were it not for an intervention by my family, I could be an Andy Griffith junkie. A few years ago in the middle of a Mayberry marathon they got my attention. Otherwise I would have become an Opie addict. One of my favorite episodes of the Andy Griffith Show is from season 3, episode 16 called, "Man in A Hurry." (I realize that I know way too much about a sitcom from the 60's).
It is the story of Malcolm Tucker, the owner of Tucker Enterprises in Raleigh who experiences car trouble outside of Mayberry on a quiet Sunday. He's in a hurry to get to Charlotte for a business meeting on Monday, but Sunday is a day of rest in Mayberry-- a fact that collides head-on with Tucker's hectic, in-a-hurry lifestyle. Wally, the mechanic in Mayberry, prefers to sit on his porch and read the Sunday paper than to be bothered by an out-of-town businessman with car trouble, but he assures Mr. Tucker that he will fix his car first thing Monday morning. When Tucker turns to Gomer for help, Gomer is absolutely no help and in exasperation Tucker steals Gomer's truck. When Andy catches him, rather than press charges and put him in jail, he takes him to his house for Sunday dinner. That's my kind of sheriff!
There in jail, Tucker's frustrations continue. He's had about all he can take of this nowhere town and these no-help people. He can't even make a telephone call because the Mendlebright sisters are using the only public line out, discussing their aches, pains, and ailments of aging. Just as the Taylor family sits down for Sunday dinner, Malcolm explodes, "You people are living in another world! This is the twentieth century, don't you realize that? The whole world is living in a desperate space age. Men are orbiting the earth, international television has been developed, but here, a whole town is standing still because two old women's feet fall asleep."
I am not always sure Malcolm Tucker was right to believe that the fast-paced life in a technologically advanced world is so much better than laid-back life in Mayberry. But he was right in saying, "You people are living in another world." Our world isn't like it used to be. There is no black and white, right and wrong, good and bad Mayberry world.
Our nation is suffering from a moral deficit caused by the abandonment of truth.
What is behind this major shift in America? It is what Arnold Toynbee, the historian, says is one of the reasons for the downfall of every civilization in human history-- drift. America has gone adrift. This weekend when many are calling for America to wake up, especially in Washington, perhaps we need to be reminded that there is a deficit problem more serious than a 14 trillion dollar debt and 4 billion dollars a day deficit spending. Our nation is suffering from a moral deficit accompanied and caused by the abandonment of truth.
Harry Blamires in The Post Christian Mind explains our current cultural condition by describing a, "manifesto for decomposition of a culture" this way: "Where there are objective values, let them be subjectivized.
Where there are absolutes, let them be relativized.
Where there are structures, moral or social, let them be fragmented.
Where there are foundations, let them be destabilized.
Where there are traditions, let them be discredited.
Where there are boundaries, let them be abolished.
Our world isn't like it used to be. And as Brian McLaren so boldly observes in his book The Church on the Other Side, "If you have a different world, you need a different church. You have a different world." The problem is that some have concluded that having a "different church" doesn't just mean adopting different methodology, but proclaiming a different message than the one that accommodates our changing culture and compromises truth.
Accommodating culture and compromising truth were problematic for first century churches.
This is not a just a twenty-first century challenge. It was a first century challenge. Accommodating culture and compromising the truth were the great temptations confronting the church in Revelation. One of the letters of Christ to the seven churches recorded in Revelation 2-3 is written to the church in Pergamum. This is the premise of my message. Being the church in twenty-first century America may be more like living in the first century Roman Empire than at any other time in our history. Therefore, what Christ has to say to the church in Pergamum speaks to us today.
Hear Christ's words in Revelation 2:12-17 (NIV). "To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. I know where you live-- where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city-- where Satan lives. Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it."
A word about the city-- a paganistic and pluralistic culture.
Pergamum was a city about the size of Springfield with a population of over 100,000 people, perhaps as many as 400,000. It was also a capital city and a cultural center with a library of over 200,000 parchments and scrolls. It was a religious center with heathen temples to worship Zeus, Dionysius, Athena, and others. As Michael Wilcox observes, "If Ephesus was the New York of Asia, Pergamum was its Washington, for there the Roman imperial power had its seat of government. There also was built the earliest temple for the state-sponsored worship of the Emperor." That is probably what was meant by Christ's statement in Revelation 2:13 (NIV). "I know where you live-- where Satan has his throne."
Once a year Roman citizens were to go to the temple, burn incense as an act of worship, and before the bust of the emperor announce their allegiance by saying, "Caesar is Lord". Christ sees Satan at work through the pressures of this pagan, non-Christian society. Satan is the source of persecution and seduction. He is the master of subtle temptation, the pathway that is typical of worldliness in any culture. Satan whispers, "Where is the harm in it? Everyone else does it, so why shouldn't you?" But truth is at stake and the church is expected to stand firm in the truth. For some, the temptation is too strong, and they give way. Compromise creeps in and the distinction between the church and the culture is blurred. There is too much tolerance, too little discipline, too much error and little truth.
A word about the church-- a persevering church with a permissive spirit.
The majority in the church at Pergamum maintained their theological convictions about Christ without compromise or contamination. Jesus said of them Revelation 2:13 (NIV), "Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me." They held on to Christ's name and did not deny their faith in him. Of all the doctrines we may differ on, there are two that we dare not deny. We may disagree and debate on other things, but not on the essential nature of being saved by Christ's name and having faith in him.
But despite their courageous stand in the face of persecution, the believers in Pergamum were not faultless before the Lord. Jesus said to the church at Pergamum in Revelation 2:14-16 (NIV), "Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore!"
Satan had not been able to destroy them by persecution, but he was making inroads in deceiving them. A group of compromising people had infiltrated the church. In Pergamum, as elsewhere, teachers had entered the church and sought to distort the truth. These false teachers are called Nicolaitans, who were mentioned earlier as being in Ephesus. See Revelation 2:6. A few weeks ago, someone who loves to study Revelation asked me who these teachers were and what they taught, expecting some great new insight. I told him that I did not know. Who they were or what they taught remains a mystery.
This conversation illustrates that often, people get distracted by what we don't know and miss the point of what we do know. Christ's concern is that in this persevering church a permissive spirit existed. This spirit tolerated those who were compromising the truth and distorting Christianity. Like the Israelites were deceived in the days of Baalam, who was an Old Testament prophet who minimized idolatry and immorality in Numbers 23-24 a group in the church said, "What's wrong with being friendly to Rome? What harm is there in putting incense on the altar and affirming your loyalty to Caesar? Why not compromise?"
What Christ says about the church in Pergamum, Os Guinness, the cultural apologist of our day, has said about the church in America. Ours is a generation of misplaced passion and messed up priorities. As Os Guinness observes, "We have scrambled things so badly that today we worship our work, we work at our play, and we play at our worship." That describes too many professing Christians. Os Guinness continues, "The problem with Western Christians is not that they aren't where they should be, but that they aren't what they should be where they are."
He tells this story of Arthur F. Burns. Arthur F. Burns was the chairman of the United States Federal Reserve System and ambassador to West Germany. He was an economic advisor to every president from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan. When he spoke, his opinion carried weight, and Washington listened.
Arthur Burns was also Jewish, so when he began attending an informal White House group for prayer and fellowship in the 1970's, he was accorded special respect. No one knew quite how to involve him in the group and, week after week when different people took turns to end the meeting in prayer, Burns was passed over by of a mixture of respect and reticence.
One week, however, the group was led by a newcomer who did not know the unusual status Burns occupied. As the meeting ended, the newcomer turned to Arthur Burns and asked him to close the time with a prayer. Some of the old-timers glanced at each other in surprise and wondered what would happen. But without missing a beat, Burns reached out, held hands with the others in the circle, and prayed this prayer that has become legendary in Washington. "Lord, I pray that you would bring Jews to know Jesus Christ. I pray that you would bring Muslims to know Jesus Christ. Finally, Lord, I pray that you would bring Christians to know Jesus Christ. Amen" (Os Guinness, The Call, page 101)
A word about the Christ-- present with a piercing sword.
That is what some professing Christians in Pergamum needed. They needed to know Jesus Christ. In the end it is Christ that we have to reckon with. The power of the sword rests not with the rulers of Rome nor with the ruler of this world, but with Christ. He is depicted as present with a piercing sword. It is the sword of judgment in two senses, discerning truth and punishing evil, and Christ will use it against those in the Church who will not repent. See Revelation 2:16.
In a prophetic message from Isaiah 49:2 (NIV) the messianic servant of the Lord says, "He made my mouth like a sharpened sword." In Ephesians 6:17 (NIV) Paul describes one of our weapons for warfare as, "...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." The writer of Hebrews describes God's word this way. Hebrews 4:12 (NIV) says, "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Here in Revelation 2:16 (NIV) John says of Jesus, "...(he) will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of (his) mouth." Revelation 19:15 (NIV) says, "Out of his (Christ's) mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations."
Christians are called to be God's persevering people in a paganistic and pluralistic culture. Christians should wield the sword not as a sword of judgment that punishes evil, for Christ will do that, but as an instrument of discerning truth, confronting error, and correcting falsehood. So when your shepherding elders or pastors speak what may seem as a hard word to someone in this church, it is not as an act of retribution. Rather, out of concern for the church, it is an act of protection as they seek to speak the truth in love.
A word about the conquerors-- the promise of God's provision (manna) and God's protection (white stone).
Antipas, who is one of the few individuals mentioned by name in these letters, is an example of what Christ wants his church to be and do. Revelation 2:13 (NIV) tells us, "...in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city..."
He was apparently a member of the church at Pergamum who had actually been martyred. He refused to drop incense on the altar of emperor worship and say, "Caesar is Lord." He recalled that at his baptism he said, "Jesus is Lord" and he held on to that faith even in the face of death. He could not and would not use the words Lord, Savior, and God to refer to the Emperor.
Like each of the letters, there is a personal promise to those who do repent and who like Antipas do overcome, whether in life or in death. Revelation 2:17 (NIV) promises, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it."
The hidden manna is undoubtedly a promise of God's faithful provision for his people. For us, the bread that God gives us is the bread of life. Jesus himself said in John 6:32–33 (NIV), "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." John 6:35 (NIV) continues, "Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.' "
The white stone with a new name written on it may have held special significance in Pergamum since some scholars have suggested that the city of Pergamum mined and commercialized white stones. What does this white stone symbolize? A white stone may have been given to a person who had been tried and was acquitted, or to a slave who had been freed and made a citizen, or used as a token/ticket for admission to a feast, or
was carried by worshipers with the name of their gods on it.
How rich all that symbolism is as we come to the celebration of communion. The name on this white stone known to each of us is Jesus Christ, the one John describes in Revelation 1:5–7 (NIV) as, "...the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father-- to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen. Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen."
As we eat of the bread and drink of the cup, let us say again what we said at our baptism. "Jesus is Lord."