What does the Spirit say to the churches?

To the church in Pergamum - the over-tolerant Church - Revelations 2:10 To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

Pergamum, also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos, was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located 26 kilometres from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus and northwest of the modern city of Bergama, Turkey.

I wonder what the commentator of the book of Revelations meant by the phrase. “Over-tolerant Church”. In may ways our world needs tolerance, in fact did you know the was a world tolerance day. However two quotes come to mind. The first by John F. Kennedy, “Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.” The second attributed to to Voltaire , “I do not like what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Is what the writer of Revelations is getting at is that these church members bend to every whim, fancy or theological nuance. In other words, do they over-compensate to the extent that they dilute their faith in Christ and their profession becomes almost unrecognisable. 

A New York family bought a ranch out West where they intended to raise cattle. Friends visited and asked if the ranch had a name. "Well," said the would-be cattleman, "I wanted to name it the Bar-J. My wife favored Suzy-Q, one son liked the Flying-W, and the other wanted the Lazy-Y. So we're calling it the Bar-J-Suzy-Q-Flying-W-Lazy-Y." "But where are all your cattle?" the friends asked. "None survived the branding."

It could be said that when a person tries to justify their wrong behaviour by pointing to the conduct of others, they are not  aiming high enough. 

This is also true if they patterns themselves after someone who gives the Lord only partial obedience. A college student learned this lesson when he was reprimanded by the school president for misbehaviour. The young person offered this lame excuse for their questionable conduct: “But, Sir, you’d find it difficult to locate 10 students in this school who wouldn’t have done as I did if they had been in my circumstances.” The president replied, “Has it ever occurred to you that you could have been one of those 10?” 

Father God, I thank you for today. To wake me up today, you didn’t compromise. So I don’t want to compromise today, I want to stand strong in the faith, and I want to stand with you, Lord. Help me to be strong in you. Whenever temptation comes my way today, help me to stand strong in you. If I have for once compromised, Lord have mercy on me. Amen