The Danger of Compromise

Readings for today: Nehemiah 12-13, Psalms 52

It usually starts small. A tiny step. A shift of one degree. One little compromise. We justify it in all sorts of ways. Surely God will understand. Surely God will make an exception this one time. Surely God knows we aren’t perfect. But then the compromises keep coming. A tiny step turns into several larger steps. One degree turns into two degrees then three. One little compromise opens the door to other, more significant compromises and the next thing we know, we are in full rebellion against God’s commands.

The last chapter of Nehemiah details a list of reforms he instituted for the people of Israel. It’s a startling way to end a book. No “happily ever after.” No “riding off into the sunset” for Nehemiah. His story ends in conflict. His story ends in confrontation. He even loses his temper and starts beating people and tearing out their hair! All this coming after an amazing time of worship where the entire population of Jerusalem gathered to sing the praises of God.

It is so easy for us to compromise. So easy for us to slide back into old habits. Someone once told me that humanity’s ability to sin is only surpassed by her ability to justify her sin. I believe it. I see it in my own life. The people of God compromised in all sorts of ways. They allowed people of foreign descent, people who worshipped other gods, to join them in worship at the Temple. For the sake of political expediency, they gave Tobiah - one of their sworn enemies - his own room in the Temple. They neglected to care for the Levites and other Temple servants by refusing to tithe, forcing them to fend for themselves. They refused to honor the Sabbath. They married foreign women. Their spiritual leaders desecrated their priestly office by intermarrying with those who did not worship Yahweh. In each case, I can almost hear the justifications. I can imagine the rationale. Our wives promised to put away their foreign gods! We’re trying to rebuild our lives and local economy and have to work on the Sabbath! If we give Tobiah a place of honor, perhaps he’ll leave us alone. From a human perspective, it all makes sense.

If I am honest, I too fall into these same traps. It’s easy for me to justify neglecting my time with God. It’s easy for me to attend worship on Sunday mornings and make it all about me and what I get out of it. It’s easy for me to justify working 24/7 without ever taking a break. It’s easy for me to give in to certain people in my life simply to avoid conflict. It’s easy for me to compromise my convictions for the sake of those I love. Frankly, it never ends well. Eventually all the little compromises I make start to stack up along the way, creating a burden far too heavy for me to bear. Eventually, the house of cards I build comes crashing down around me, leaving me far worse off than I could have imagined. God demands my obedience. Jesus Himself says, “If you love Me, you will obey My commands.” Following Christ is not easy. Following Christ requires great sacrifice. Following Christ means dying to “Self” with all its disordered desires and unrestrained passions.

Readings for tomorrow: Esther 1-5, Psalms 53

Compromise

Readings for today: 2 Kings 16-17, 2 Chronicles 28

Compromise comes in many forms. Sometimes it’s pragmatic. We compromise with those opposed to us because we know it will bring peace or some other greater good. Sometimes it’s political. Part of the problem we’re having in our nation today is the inability of our elected officials to come together and compromise to solve our problems. Sometimes it’s moral. We compromise our ethical standards to fulfill some sinful, selfish desire. Usually at great cost. Sometimes it’s religious and this is where it really gets dangerous because now we’re messing with the holiness of God.

Ahaz is under all kinds of pressure. He is being attacked on multiple fronts by his enemies. They are chipping away at his territory and one of them even successfully besieges Jerusalem. In desperation, he reaches out to the most powerful empire in the region - Assyria - and bribes them with gold from the Temple treasury to get them to intervene on his side. They sweep in and achieve a great victory and in the aftermath, Ahaz goes to meet with Tiglath-Pileser who makes a great impression on him. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and Ahaz comes back to Jerusalem with the goal of shifting the allegiances of his people from Yahweh to the gods of the Assyrians. So he builds a massive altar patterned after the one he saw in Damascus. Creates a whole new liturgy complete with burnt offerings for his people to participate in. He strips the Temple of it’s former furnishings - the furnishings designed by God - so that all reminders of Yahweh’s presence are now removed. And his hope is that by worshipping the gods of the Assyrians, he too will become rich and powerful just like Tiglath-Pileser.

It all sounds so strange and foreign to us until we start to reflect on how often we make the same mistake. A cursory glance at church history reveals how often we compromise biblical truth for the sake of cultural influence. Rather than hold fast to the gospel, we compromise just a little so we can make Christianity a little more palatable to our neighbors. It never works. I think about the number of churches who have radically shifted worship styles over the years in a never-ending search for relevance. Sure, they gather a crowd. Some may even come to saving faith. But discipleship is often a mile-wide and an inch deep. (And this has nothing to do with church size by the way. I’ve seen large and small churches make this mistake.) I think about the movement in church architecture years ago to remove the cross from sanctuaries and worship centers because of the offense it may cause. Thankfully, that movement was fairly short-lived but it’s yet another example of how we can compromise too much if we are not careful and thoughtful and prayerful. Does this mean we should never change? Of course not. God tells us frequently throughout the Scriptures that He is always doing a new thing. Putting new wine in new wineskins. So we have to be attentive to the Spirit. But the Spirit will never contradict Himself. He will not compromise His Word. He will never stop pointing us to Christ.

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 13-17