“To those who emerge victorious, keeping my practices until the end, I will give authority over the nations”
(Revelation 2:26, CEB).
The proclamation above was written to the church in Thyatira. Thyatira was located in the northwest province of Manisa, Turkey. The ancient city was known for its textile trade, bronze work, and weavings. Artisans and merchants would travel to Thyatira great distances to sell their goods.
Given its prime location as a commercial marketplace, Thyatira attracted nefarious people who wielded a negative influence upon the church. One of the challenges the Christian community faced stemmed from the selling of protein from open-air street markets. Many meat selections were portioned from animals that had been used in Pagan sacrifices.
Jesus criticized the first century church for consuming these products. At face value, eating sacrificed cuts of meat may seem to be an innocuous activity. However, Jesus echoed his concern that such practices were becoming a distraction within the church and was creating a spiritual disconnection from Christ.
Sadly, the 21st century church faces similar challenges. Too many of us disconnect our attention to Christ by overly engaging with our electronic devices. The average person spends almost two-and-a-half hours a day viewing social media. Teenagers are plugged into social media almost twice that amount of time.
Similarly, adults watch on average three hours of television per day. One-third of the time, adults are tuned into a local or national news network. Teenagers consume more than seven hours a day playing videos or watching streaming channels.
To remedy this problem, Jesus encouraged the church to attend more to his practices. This is a reference to the spiritual practices of corporate worship, prayer, the reading of Scripture, small group engagements with other Christians, and fasting.
The truth is that our excessive exposure Breitbart News, MSNBC, Meta, and Netflix are influencing our attitudes, thoughts, values, and actions to a greater degree than the principles of Jesus. There is a theological axiom which in Latin says, “Quid non habet, non potest dare.” What is not had, cannot be given.
For each of us the question is: To which outlet am I plugging into?
The proclamation above was written to the church in Thyatira. Thyatira was located in the northwest province of Manisa, Turkey. The ancient city was known for its textile trade, bronze work, and weavings. Artisans and merchants would travel to Thyatira great distances to sell their goods.
Given its prime location as a commercial marketplace, Thyatira attracted nefarious people who wielded a negative influence upon the church. One of the challenges the Christian community faced stemmed from the selling of protein from open-air street markets. Many meat selections were portioned from animals that had been used in Pagan sacrifices.
Jesus criticized the first century church for consuming these products. At face value, eating sacrificed cuts of meat may seem to be an innocuous activity. However, Jesus echoed his concern that such practices were becoming a distraction within the church and was creating a spiritual disconnection from Christ.
Sadly, the 21st century church faces similar challenges. Too many of us disconnect our attention to Christ by overly engaging with our electronic devices. The average person spends almost two-and-a-half hours a day viewing social media. Teenagers are plugged into social media almost twice that amount of time.
Similarly, adults watch on average three hours of television per day. One-third of the time, adults are tuned into a local or national news network. Teenagers consume more than seven hours a day playing videos or watching streaming channels.
To remedy this problem, Jesus encouraged the church to attend more to his practices. This is a reference to the spiritual practices of corporate worship, prayer, the reading of Scripture, small group engagements with other Christians, and fasting.
The truth is that our excessive exposure Breitbart News, MSNBC, Meta, and Netflix are influencing our attitudes, thoughts, values, and actions to a greater degree than the principles of Jesus. There is a theological axiom which in Latin says, “Quid non habet, non potest dare.” What is not had, cannot be given.
For each of us the question is: To which outlet am I plugging into?