There was a time that God worked in my life through unemployment. It was a difficult time and I’m not sure how we got through it. However, He was faithful and our needs were met. I was blessed after 17 months to have a fellow church member provide a position that helped me work toward getting back on my feet. In the same building was another church member who had already made a significant amount of money before reaching retirement age. He looked for and seized business “opportunities.” He also spent a fair amount of time in libation and gambling on a locally based cruise ship that set sail in the evenings. As a member of a large church, attending different service times, and being sensitive to my relationship with the person providing me work, I did not feel it was my place to confront the issue directly. What burdened my heart most was that I overheard this individual comment on the concept of “This is business not church.” To him there seemed to be a visible distinction. To this day I still cannot find a way to separate God from anything based on David’s Psalm 139:7–9 and Jeremiah’s comments in Chapter 23:24.
As we come to the fourth church, it reminds me of this fellow’s reasoning. Thyatira was a small city, but a busy commercial center on a busy Roman thoroughfare. Because of this, many trade unions settled in the city and almost everyone was a member of one or more trades. It was difficult to make a living as a Christian in Thyatira without belonging to the union. The problem was that most union meetings were held in pagan temples. Many housed temple prostitutes and would cast an air of worship. The meetings began with libation to the gods and a meal consisting of the meat sacrificed to those idols. So the concept of “If business practices collide with your Christian principles, then your principles have to go — because you have to make a living” was prominent. The key female leader at the Thyatira church openly endorsed this concept. Consequently the people became involved in sexual immorality and idolatry which to them became what we would refer to as a worldly church.
Though they possessed a faith that appeared to be true and were charitable, their lifestyle took precedence to Christ. The truth is they were the antithesis of Ephesus. Their residents are no different from today’s society ignoring Matthew 6:25, 32 and 33. Many of our biggest challenges exist in where and how we earn our money. Work is good because it provides us with an opportunity to be obedient to God (2 Thessalonians 3:10), align our values with our work to ensure a respectable level of productivity, and in doing so, an opportunity to draw others’ attention to the cause of Christ.
Kids, you cannot separate anything from God. Even if there is nothing “spiritual” in what you are doing, there will always be spiritual implications to the way you approach and do everything. That’s why Paul says we must pray continually (1Thessalonians 5:17) .
Love,
Dad