Seven churches

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M. M. NINAN
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He commends them for their active orthodoxy, their toil, patience and intolerance of evil
and opposition to false doctrines. In the process of building up a church they lost their first
love - the depth and desire was lost. In the process of building an institutional church
capable of withstanding the ongoing evil they lost their priorities - Jesus was not given the
prominence. The superstructure was built up. We can see this even today in the growth of
any church. When the church begins the people are so enthusiastic and filled with love for
each other and the life of the church is centered on Jesus. As time goes on, legalism and
superstructures became necessary and eventually they miss the centrality of Jesus and
remained as an edifice of structure at the building level and the social level. It does not
mean that the buildings and structures and social activities are evil or unnecessary. It
should not deter the love within the community and the love for Christ.
Rev 2:6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans,
which I also hate.
Nicolaitan heresy is an extreme form of Gnosticism which was rampant during the
Apostolic Age. They taught that, since their bodies were physical, it did not matter what
the body did. So they resorted to indiscriminate sexual relations and did whatever they
liked with their bodies. Iraneas reports that the sect was so called because their leader
was Nicolaos. Sex is even today a potential danger of close loving Christian communities.
We can foresee the growth of cults like the Children of God and others in the Nicolaitan
teachings.
This name has another meaning.
Nico = ruler.
Laitan = of the Laity
So Nicolaitan would mean ruler of the laity. Hence this may indicate the growth of the
supremacy of the clergy in the church. The rise of the Priesthood in Christianity is a copy
of the Priesthood in the Roman pagan religion. These cultural traditions were mixed with
Aaronic Priesthood and were readopted into the institutional churches. There is nothing
wrong in the adoption of cultural setup into Christian Institutionalization as long as it does
not produce a basic contradiction in the theological basis of Christian faith. In this case as
time went on clergy slowly became the rulers and took over spiritual authority in contrast
to the royal priesthood of all believers. This essentially is the difference of opinion of
evangelicals with the orthodox and Roman Catholicism.