Pergamum

The church at Pergamum lived at the epicenter of Roman imperial power — where the governor held the ius gladii, the right of the sword — yet Jesus opens his letter not by addressing the threat from outside, but by warning that the greater danger was the Balaamites and Nicolaitans within, teachers offering a theology of accommodation who understood that what coercion cannot accomplish, entanglement can. Jesus is unambiguous that this kind of both/and thinking is not permitted — citing money, social approval, and political power as areas where his followers must choose either/or — because as C.S. Lewis observed, there is no neutral ground.