Compromise Scripture for the Sake of Acceptance?
To compromise Scripture for the sake of spreading the gospel is the wrong message to spread. For great success in today’s culture it appears that Christian performers must compromise, or else be excluded from the top spots.
A compromised message can’t adequately express to someone their need for a Savior. It doesn’t express sin as it is and why we have to turn from it. A message of compromise in order to appease those who will not accept the Word in it’s fullness is a message that will corrupt the messenger every bit as much as the one who is being reached out to.
What does biblical success look like? I would argue that far more than stage presence, sold out Christian concerts and swelling membership rolls that love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control are far greater indicators of Christian success. Great biblical characters rarely received adoration in their lifetimes. Often their lives were anything but what the world might consider success, or cut short with violence.
The desire to reach as many people as possible for the Kingdom is a noble one, but once the Scriptures are compromised the nobility goes, and slowly but surely the messenger finds himself or herself allowing the fruits of the Spirit to slip away as well. Compromise leads on to more compromise, as certain as way leads on to way.
Why Compromise?
Compassion is what drives many who attempt to accommodate people who are trapped in sexual sin. That is what made me compromise my position years ago, and I think that’s the case for many now. However I can assure you that this an awful, painful mistake. An honest look at the ridiculous state of social issues today will certainly make a compassionate person feel a little bit taken advantage of. Compassionate behavior has led to something of a circus.
Some in the faith wish to participate in deviant sexual behavior, and some want to soften their position in the hopes of demonstrating compassion for those who want to live that way. The Scriptures forbid doing both.
The Bible leaves no room whatsoever for sinful behavior or compromise. Sexual behavior seems to have an exceptionally powerful draw on people. What’s written in the Scriptures regarding sex are not flexible guidelines. What’s written is clear cut, unambiguous and sobering.
Good Sex is a Blessing, But What Works?
Sex outside marriage is not allowed. Not at all. Regardless of who is doing what with whom, if the sex is outside a marriage chamber it is forbidden. In regards to homosexual behavior, relaxed laws in the secular state do not make it okay to Yahweh. Marriage in this case does not sanctify the relationship.
This is a radioactive topic. While it is not love to condone homosexual relationships, Christians would do well to keep in mind that adulterous relationships are regarded in exactly the same manner. At one time the penalty was exactly the same, and of course in the eyes of Yahweh it still is.
Multiple marriage partners are allowed for those not engaged in leadership, but the Bible makes it clear that that is not ideal and isn’t likely to work very well. Sexual activity outside marriage, even in the heart, is forbidden. Homosexual behavior isn’t acceptable inside or outside of marriage. Bisexual, by it’s very nature, implies sex without commitment and it should be obvious that this is not proper.
The truth is that when in the sanctified bedroom there are no limits in Scripture and no reason to not enjoy yourself to the fullest. Anything goes as long as there is consent. The only limits to sexual behavior between a husband and wife are their comfort, agreement and considerations for health. It should go without saying that any concerns should be respected. It should also go without saying that certain sexual practices can cause a lot of damage, even in monogamous sanctified marriages.
Tolerance
Yeshua once gave an adulterous woman the greatest news she had ever heard in her life. He challenged her accusers to examine themselves and upon finding no one who could rightly throw stones He informed her that He did not condemn her, but that she was to go and sin no more.
To compromise for the sake of compassion seems like a loving thing, but it is not. You do not love the person whom you will encourage to sin. That is not a love that Yahweh would recognize.
In love we have to tolerate a person, but tolerance for behavior is not the same thing. Sexual behavior is exactly that. A behavior. I’d venture to say that media has groomed this behavior, at least in the US where I’m from. Often sexual trauma pushes someone to behave in a homosexual way.
No, you were not born this way.
A true friend will tell you when what you are doing is dangerous. He will not ignore infidelity and he will not allow someone to behave sexually in a way which will not allow that person to be saved.
Willful sin denies salvation. It isn’t up to us to define what sin is. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did that for us.
It also isn’t up to us to condemn anyone, but instead follow after our savior Yeshua and do the truly loving thing. Discourage sinful behavior without throwing stones which could just as easily be thrown at us.
What we sometimes think of as love and what love really is don’t necessarily have anything to do with each other.
Fame Burns Up in the Fire. Don’t Compromise for Today
So returning to the original topic, for Christian success the fruits of the Spirit are one good measure. Popularity is without reservation not a measure of success as a believer at all. I would argue that fame, power or great popularity are some of the most dangerous roads a person can take and that only an exceptional discipline can endure it.
Intimate relationships are a touchy subject and require a delicate approach. Love, whether right or wrong, is powerful beyond anything else we experience and to handle such a force incorrectly could drive people away from Yeshua. If done properly in real love these is no need to compromise the Word for popularity or to reach more people. It is a worldly mistake and an entirely carnal desire, no matter how you dress it up to yourself.
If fame or success requires Biblical compromise, as it seems to in our culture today, then perhaps fame and worldly success are better left to those who are not interested in being children of Yahweh.
An Easy Yoke, A Crushing Cross
Our reasons for compromise don’t make any difference. The fact is that if someone will not hear the whole Biblical truth and all it contains then that person isn’t ready or isn’t truly interested in the salvation Yeshua offers. That salvation is indeed free, however it comes with strings attached. A changed life and a denial of self are the price we pay. We are required to carry our cross.
Yeshua’s yoke is easy and His burden is light. On the other hand to deny yourself and carry your cross means to carry a burden so heavy that it crushes and eventually extinguishes the life of your old person, and by the Holy Spirit you become a new creation.
I don’t ever regret leaving the things I have left because they are forbidden for our own good. It takes leaving them behind to realize it. My life is better without drugs and unforgiveness, hatred and unmarried sex, among a myriad of other vices. The things I continue to struggle with will not be missed either, when I am finally strong enough in Messiah to let them go for good.
What is commanded is commanded for our good. What is forbidden is forbidden for our good. It is not biblical love to encourage sinful behavior, not even out of compassion. That is love twisted to suit worldly lust, and I can assure the messengers that compromise is every bit as destructive as any other sin. Quite possibly moreso.
An Earnest, Loving Request
I would encourage public Christian personalities engaged in promoting deviant (as in deviating from what is allowed in Scripture) sexual behavior and drug use to stop immediately. Popularity is no measure of Christian success and a number 1 Christian single glorifying bad behavior will not follow you into the eternity we desire.
Standing firm in faith using true, biblical love to correct yourself first then correct your brother or sister will.
Pride goes before destruction. Please just think about the slogan. Pride.
Pride once got a beautiful angel thrown from heaven, and he wants to use pride to drag you down with him. To misinterpret Scripture opportunistically to suit a lifestyle is arrogant beyond comprehension. Even to accommodate by softening what is actually written for the sake of compassion is prideful because doing so says that you know better than Yahweh, who made the world and everything in it.
Yeshua dealt with sin properly. He spoke without condemnation, but He gave a stern command to go and sin no more. Willful sin which will not be dealt with leads to condemnation.
Please be careful. Do not use a Christian platform to encourage sin. For your sake, in love and with painful experience I’m asking you not to do that.
