The Ancient Church of Thyatira

While visiting ancient Thyatira, I was challenged to assess the danger of tolerance in my own life and certainly in our culture. Our modern culture is similar to ancient Greco-Roman society, which was identified with paganism, acceptance, diversity, and tolerance.  For them, their tolerance was affirmed by a “Jezebel” in their community and motivated by their need to justify business, even to feed their family. 

How often do we justify our sin by things we desire or even need that cause us to compromise our faith?  The example of Jack Phillips, the infamous Colorado baker, challenges me. He is a modern-day example of an individual who willingly loses business because of a strong conviction not to compromise his faith. Do we tolerate continually and immerse ourselves in unholiness to the compromise of the Gospel? Think about it as you watch this video filmed on location in ancient Thyatira.