The silverware rattled as the drawer that housed it slid open with aggravated force. I instinctively suspended my breathing and waited. It was the sound that sent shivers down my spine and caused my youthful blood to run ice-cold through my veins.
Normally the silverware drawer held a certain appeal to me. After all, it contained forks, spoons, and knives—each of these admittedly taking their places among my most favorite instruments. However, it also housed my nemesis—the dreaded wooden spoon.
My parents believed in the most hideously outrageous form of child abuse—spanking—and the wooden spoon generally proved to be their weapon of choice. It had everything a sadistic parent could want: it was accessible, it had the ability to inflict pain, and it was non-lethal.
The deafening sound of silverware crashing against the edges of the drawer indicated something more sinister than simple hunger. Someone was in trouble, and I hoped wasn’t me.
All it took was a rattle of the silverware drawer to issue a warning to the household: a parent is coming, armed with the wooden saber. You better watch yourself.
In His message to the church at Pergamos, Jesus sent the same message, only He wasn’t carrying an oversized eating utensil. He had a sword, and a double-edged one at that. His message was clear—you better shape up. Now.
When the weapon comes out, it’s time to stop messing around. Jesus means business.
What in the world were the folks in Pergamos doing to prompt Jesus to threaten them with a two-edged sword?
Plainly put, they are allowing compromise in their church. Some folks were not only allowing sin, but they were encouraging it. They were acting as Balaam of Old Testament fame (you know—the guy who talked with the donkey). He sold out for some kind of personal benefit, and some folks in Pergamos were doing the same thing.
We often hear that we need to love each other and overlook things that are wrong. But that’s not what Jesus said. Sure, we need to love each other, but His message is clear: if we didn’t do something about the sin, He will.
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