Probably next month in Sunday School I will teach on the Adversary of God known as Satan or the Devil. In this teaching I will include some of the ways he works. One of these ways is by getting a saint to compromise. Compromise is a way to find a happy medium. It is a way to settle differences over a controversy. If the devil can get you to find a happy medium, somewhere between sound doctrine and bad doctrine, then he has a good day.
Compromise is disobedience. The Lord has called us to believe specific doctrines and that means we must sit under men who will only teach what God has spoken in His word. If the teacher is a compromiser then he will infect you with compromise. We must sit under teachers who are there to teach you not to compromise. If a teacher is carefree about one area of doctrine, then you too will become carefree about that doctrine as well.
You may say to yourself, “this will not happen to me because I am not a compromiser. Even if my pastor compromises in an area of doctrine, I will not”. If that is your attitude then you have already began your compromise by remaining under a pastor who compromises. You say you will not be pursuaded to believe something untrue, but you remain under his untrue teachings, no matter how great or how small.
In todays world of Christianity we see that nothing is new from times past. Heretics and heresies continue as promised by, not only the prophets, but by the Messiah himself in Matthew 24. Paul said he was afraid that our minds would somehow be led astray from our sincere and pure devotion to the Messiah. How? Because the enemy has tricks up his sleeve. He has had thousands of years to study mankind and he knows us very well.
He will go after your mind. Not the mind of an unbeliever. He already has their mind.
He has them captive already according to 2 Timothy 2. He does not worry about dead wood. He does not worry about this freewill nonsense because unregenerate men and women are already captive to do “his” will.
Instead, he goes after the mind of Christians because it is their minds where sound doctrine and morals are either accepted or rejected. He uses his hired help to go after the intellect. In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul said that the devil’s disciples are his servants and they will do his work.
Paul said; “….it is not surprising if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their doom will match their deeds”! That word servant is the Greek word diakonos. It means; one who executes the commands of another, especially of a master, a servant, attendant, minister. A deacon, one who, by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church, cares for the poor and has charge of and distributes the money collected for their use.
Think on this with great concern. He has his own ministers. His own pastors, teachers and deacons who run his errands for him.
He does not have to address your mind at all times. What do I mean? It will not be the prince of darkness watching your every move. He has helpers. He has enlisted those who stand behind the pulpit and speak tender things (or whisper sweet nothings) to the minds inside of the congregations every Sunday. He does not have to draft men to help him. He has volunteers.
Like going to death row and asking someone there if they would like to participate in a crime. It is the devil’s desire to destroy the elect of God. He cannot touch the soul, but he can make your life very unproductive, miserable, and through his cleverness, he can cause you to be the reason God’s enemies rise up and mock Christianity.
Our compromises are not hidden in the closet. They will come out in acts and deeds. Think of the words of Nathan to David in 2 Samuel 12:14 “However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.”
Think of the way in which men of God can bring shame to their Master. If the devil can get you to compromise on one thing, then the second time it gets easier and the third time is cake for him. Once he has started a pattern, then there is no need for him to continue. This happens with saints all the time. For example, I am thinking of a case that happened in my jouneys, A family missed 4 weeks of worship on Sunday because they were on vacation. They begin to say “no biggie”. Well, that no biggie is also like saying “others dont need me, I am not a part of the body that will be missed”. How terrible. What example they gave to their 4 children! We are a family and if that sort of compromising attitude enters the mind, it will happen again and the next time it will be justified even easier.
The devil would love to see us have a carefree attitude about worship and fellowship. He wants division and not unity. He is like Bob Barker (no disrespect to Bob. Just an analogy) “Let’s make a deal” says the devil. Come to church 2 times a month and that will be fine. Compromise does seek a form of unity, but on devilish terms.
Maybe the devil says “let’s make a deal. Your pastor has 9 out 10 doctrines correct so give him the benefit of the doubt. Stay there where you can encourage his 1 heresy”.
Webster’s defines compromise as “ An amicable agreement between parties in controversy, to settle their differences by mutual concessions”. If you have a pastor with 9 out of 10 doctrines correct, that means 1 is heresy right? So, you have made a deal with the devil that that 1 heresy should be overlooked. Thats a terrible compromise.
Once the devil starts a pattern in our lives, we will eventually pick it up as a habit. Think of it as “little white lies”. Little white lies are still lies. I believe there are also “little white compromises”. In the end, they are still compromise!
Compromise is an interesting thing because it is the instrument that justifies what we say and do. It tells us all is well or all with our lives and with our doctrines. Compromise not only can infect the youngest of Christians, it can also infect some of the oldest of Christians. Discipline and discernment can harness compromise. If it is harnessed than it is controlled. But, if it cannot be identified in our lives it cannot be controlled. The only way compromise can be identified is by the Scriptures.
Compromise has infected those in church leadership. Men in the limelight often compromise. They protect other compromisers because of friendships.
For example, John Piper protects Douglas Wilson. The number of so-called Christians who defend the writings of C.S. Lewis is astonishing yet at the same time not surprising. Would God be defending C.S. Lewis’s doctrines like the Mass and extreme unction? Would God be defending Roman Catholic doctrines? Would God be defending doctrines brought over from Rome and into the Arminian camp? Then why are we? Why do we compromise and tolerate any form of Roman Catholicsm when it is an outright attack on the gospel? Compromise is an ugly sin! If the Messiah did not tolerate any false doctrine then why are God’s people? If the Messiah did not compromise then why are those who claim to follow Him doing so? Why are Christian’s remaining in congregations where the pastor is able to spew any Arminianism/semi pelagianism, no matter how little it is? When are Christian’s going to wake up and understand that God is not glorified when any pastor teaches freewill?
If we look the other way at things it is often because we have grown numb and have become a sort of physical manifestation of compromise. Self examination is fruitless when compromise is the lense we look through. We often redefine compromise and define it as a sort of loving tolerance. Why do many tolerate a certain congregation? Because they want to give the pastor an opportunity and this is done through compromise. It is crucial that we stay away from compromise. If the Old Testament teaches us anything, it should be an example of how serious the Lord dealt with compromisers.
When we take Christianity lightly then we will live a light Christianity. If we allow compromise to dictate what we believe and how we live then we are really only following what we want Christianity to be. Christianity is not a hobby. It is a life style and belief system. Our entire worldview must be conformed to a biblical worldview. That means, there is no place for compromise. That means we are active participants and not sitting on the sidelines waving to other Christians. Compromise is a primer for the devil to lead us in another direction.
We must do a self examination everyday. Am I believing what the Scriptures teach or am I telling the Scriptures what I believe? Am I marking my Bible or is my Bible marking me? Am I growing closer to the Lord because of grace or am I growing closer to the world because of a lack of grace? Only you know if compromise is within you. If it is, it is never to late for a saint to repent and toss it out of his or her life. Am I a compromiser? Like I said earlier; if you are at a congregation that compromises and you do nothing about it, then yes you are. I guarantee that if you have a pastor that compromises then you will have many in the congregation that are compromising as well. Compromise can be contagious. Again, if you do not identify it then you will become a victim of it.
How do I rid compromise it if the pastor does not care or does not see it as a problem? You walk! You are saved by God to bear His image. If the pastor does not see a problem with little doctrinal compromises then I do not see him as an image bearer for the Messiah. A Christian is saved by grace and then becomes a messenger of that grace. If the message is compromised and distorted doctrine is taught, that pastor no longer is a faithful messenger. You find a place where the pastor has a handle on compromise. If there is a congregation that does not compromise and the pastor’s desire is to keep and remove compromise from the congregation, then this is where God would have you be.
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