Thanks ZNP for your thoughtful post. Based on a collection of responses I have some new considerations. Here is one.
When the Lord was on the earth He said and did many things living out the divine attributes through the human virtues. By His every word and act we can see a perfect man expressing the Godhead. Yet, during His earthly sojourn He only mentioned the Church universal once ("upon this rock I will build my Church") and the local church ("tell it to the church") once. We could derive very little about Gods desire and plan for the Church universal nor the arrangement, government, beliefs, practices, or establishing of local churches from just those two verses. Those definitions He would reveal to us through His apostles but primarily through the Apostle Paul. Yet, the Lord confirmed the work of the apostles as His own by His address to the 7 churches in Revelation. In those letters to the seven churches much more is revealed about the Lord Himself. and His judgement of the works, teachings, mission, etc. of the local churches.
Probably you will not disagree with most or all of that preamble.
Now here is what I have noticed. As concerns the local churches and His assessments, judgements, commendation, condemnation, and call to individuals to overcome the shortcomings in those local churches many posters here appeal, as a counter to the Lords clear demands in the letters in Revelation, to the sayings of, as aron sums up, "a guy named Jesus" in the gospels. So "judge not lest you be judged" in the gospels is not a direct match to ""But
you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which
I also hate." revealed in Revelation. That is because the Jesus revealed in the gospels is not complete. It is part of the story. It is only when we come to Revelation that we see our High Priest, Jesus, caring for the churches in His glorified position in the heavenly tabernacle. There we see not a lowly man on Earth. Instead we see:
Revelation 1
"12) I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man,d dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."
That Jesus, the one in Revelation, is judging, condemning, and hates some things and commends His followers who hate the same things. He condemns things in the churches. Is His condemning and hatred incompatible with love one another? incompatible with judge not? No, it is not. Does He intimate any concept close to "live and let live"? No, He does not. Does He condemn the worship of Beyonce under the banner of Christian worship? I'm certain He does. Appealing to the Jesus in the gospels while evaluating the matters He judges as the High Priest, matters that He explicitly states we are to heed, is missing the whole point of Revelation 2 & 3.
Thanks for sharing.
Drake