Kaizen!

Background Passages: Revelation 2:16-29

The concept of continuous improvement in the work world took hold during Toyota’s initiative to innovate its manufacturing process. The company introduced the term “kaizen,” which, in Japanese, means “change for the better.” In doing so, Toyota focused its employees’ attention on finding ways to improve the business.

Toyota’s success in turning its business around, spread the idea of continuous improvement into almost every aspect of organizational leadership in corporate and institutional culture over the past 25 years.

When introduced, it was not a new concept, however. The early Christian teachers were all over it. Almost all of Paul’s letters to the early church exhorted them to change for the better. To grow continuously in their faith.

“Therefore, let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, (not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead toward death) and to faith in God…” (Hebrews 6:1)

“When I was a child, I talked like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put away childish things. For now, we see only a reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (I Corinthians 13:10-12)

“…until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13-16)

The clear call of scripture is to grow in Christ. To put away childish things, the immature thoughts, that allow us to be drawn away from our faith and witness.

For the past several weeks, I’ve focused my Bible study on the seven churches to whom Jesus spoke in Revelation 2. I’ve written about Ephesus, who had such zeal for sound doctrine and holiness, but forgot how to love. The believers in Smyrna showed us how to live faithfully amid suffering. Those Christians in Pergamum stayed faithful in the big things, holding on to their witness for Christ, but flirting with sin in the way they lived.

Take all the good things being done in Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamum and you’ll see the church in Thyatira. It was a healthy church, growing in spiritual maturity. Diving into the teachings of Christ, they found themselves praised by Jesus for their good deeds, their love and faith, their acts of service to others and their perseverance in the face of difficulty.

It could not have been easy given their circumstances. Thyatira did not carry the same importance in the region as Ephesus or Pergamum. A small craft and trade center known for its dyeing, garment-making, pottery and brassworking. It was governed in large part by its trade guilds. Trade guilds were powerful organizations that made it difficult for a merchant to pursue his or her trade without belonging to one of the guilds.

Each guild in this pagan culture worshipped its own patron deities, complete with feasts and seasonal festivals that often included sexual practices counter to the teachings of Christ. Christians practicing the trade were placed in a compromising position under pressure from the guild to participate in their immoral rituals. Failure to participate meant exclusion from the guild and little to no access to the profitable markets.

Perhaps it was this kind of pressure that compelled Lydia, a God-fearing maker of purple cloth from Thyatira, to resettle in Philippi where she first heard Paul’s preaching and became a follower of Christ.

In the face of such pressure, Jesus put his stamp of approval on the Christians of Thyatira, praising them for their spiritual growth.

“I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.” (Revelation 2:19)

Despite the pressures upon them to conform, the church grew in its spiritual maturity. Whatever good works they were doing when they first came to know Jesus, they were now doing more. The love and faith they demonstrated from the beginning of their conversion experience had grown deeper and more inclusive over time. They cared more deeply for each other and those in need, not just through their emotional expressions, but through their kindness, fellowship and sharing of their faith.

Service and ministry became a part of their spiritual DNA. It was who they were. They found ways not only to teach the gospel, but to tend to the sick, feed the hungry and assist those who were struggling financially.

When their faith was challenged, when they found themselves booted from the guild for their refusal to compromise the call of Christ, they leaned on each other. They weathered the storm. They stayed strong.

The great thing about that, according to the words of Jesus, is that all those things they did in the beginning, they were doing in greater measure as time moved on. They adopted Paul’s message to the Ephesians by declaring, “We will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

Isn’t that what every Christian life ought to be? A life of constant improvement in which our tomorrow is a better representation of our today? That our lives grow more abundant in all that is good and noble and holy.

We talk about our firm foundation of faith, but what good is the foundation if we don’t build upon it? We talk of the seed that has been planted in us, but what good is it if we never become the tree? We become a branch of the one true vine, but what good is it if we never bear fruit?

All Christians ought to have a growth mindset, to strive tomorrow to be better disciples of Christ than they are today. Paul said as much to his protégé Timothy as he wrote about the pursuit of godliness.

“To this end (godliness) we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” (I Timothy 4:10)

So for every believer in Christ, we live out a demand for “kaizen,” to “change for the better.” What is continuous improvement for the Christian look like? What does it take to change for the better?

A commitment to spiritual growth requires us to develop an honest habit of cultivating those traits exemplified in Christ. Love, which Christ himself declared the greatest of all commands. Faith, a continuous trust and reliance on God and his spirit to guide our decisions and place our steps. Service, our acts of ministry that demonstrate that we can use his teachings to better the lives of others. Perseverance, that desire to ensure that our understanding of the demands of discipleship grow deeper with each life experience and each passing day. That we finish the race we started.

Such was the commitment of the church in Thyatira…that they were now doing more than they did at first. Our commitment must be the same. To continue growing. To change for the better. To begin to understand with each passing day the truth of the old hymn. “The longer I serve him, the sweeter he grows.”

Despite all the good they did and despite all the growth they experienced, all was not right in Thyatira.

“Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So, I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways.” (Rev. 2:20-22)

Some Bible scholars infer from scripture that these early Christians in Thyatira struggled with living for Christ while the world around them demanded their involvement in the activities of the guild. The idolatrous practices of the guild would have involved immoral sexual practices and pagan religious observances that feasted on meat offered to their idols. For some believers in the city, the temptation to comply with the world’s demands drew them away from their commitment to Christ.

Every generation of Christians faces the same temptation. It is the fine line to “live in the world, but not of the world.” The cause of Christ cannot be served if Christians retreat completely from the rest of society. The lure of unchristian business practices is a constant tug. The temptation to go along to get along, to accept sin as a way of life, is never ending.

As we live out our calling under the watchful eyes of our neighbors, our lives become a testimony to the reality of Christ in our lives. They either see him in the way we live and work or they don’t.

The Jezebel of Thyatira convinced others in the church to conform to the practices of the pagan culture around them. They placed financial considerations over faith principles. True discipleship demands a higher standard of moral conduct.

So, the passage begs the question. Who or what is your Jezebel?

Jezebel is anything or anyone who suggests that you can compromise any aspect of your faith and still be in good standing with a holy God. It is an easy gospel. A convenient faith. We don’t have to listen too hard today to hear the siren call of a “feel good” sermon, steeped in psychology rather than theology.

It’s easy enough to be pulled off course as a growing Christian, but one who does not regularly study God’s word will find it almost impossible to resist the lure of the easy way out. Christians must constantly test what they hear against scripture in an effort to discern God’s truth. Paul lauded as “noble” the men and women of Berea because they searched the scriptures to test whether his message aligned with what was written in the Old Testament.

Our overzealous pursuit of wealth, our misguided ambitions for success in business, our quest for popularity, our desire to fit in…it’s easy to hear Jezebel whispering in our ears, “Go ahead. It doesn’t really matter.” But, in truth, it does matter.

When we slip away from the path God has laid out before us, he calls us to repent. When we stay the course, obedient to his commands, growing in our understanding, he offers this encouragement.

“Now, to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her (Jezebel’s) teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’” (Rev. 2:24-25)

The lesson of Thyatira applies equally to us today. Kaizen! Get better every day. Grow in spirit and truth. Never stop learning his will and way. You and I will be tempted to give up and give in. When you feel your grip slipping away, listen for his encouragement.

“Hold on to what you have until I come.”