TODAY’S SIGNATURE VERSE ••• Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. (James 4:17 NKJV)
PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• We live in a culture of compromise. Without getting into the trenches with this — all one needs to do is look at the trends of the last 40 years. What was once unacceptable and taboo has become acceptable and normalized. Things that seemed unconscious to us even 10, 20 years ago are socially acceptable now. And through the redefining of socially accepted norms, the church has been compromised, too.
Even more scary — a recent survey by Cultural Research Center showed that only 37% of U.S.-based pastors hold to a “biblical worldview.” This is because the church has been influenced by culture instead of being led by the Holy Spirit. Many Christians have stopped looking at the Bible as the final and authoritative source of Truth.
And if we disagree — people assume we aren’t kind and we aren’t loving like Jesus.
The thing they overlook is that while Jesus may have hung out with sinners, it doesn’t mean He endorsed their sin. He occasionally even had harsh words for people… but when we speak of the kindness of Jesus, we have to remember that He was kind without compromise.
Is it possible for today’s Christian to be kind without compromise, too?
We can love others without agreeing with them. We can love them without pandering to them. We can love without participating in sinful choices.
Yes… We can be kind without compromise, though the world may not recognize that brand of loving kindness.
And we need to be okay with that.
Because it’s not loving or kind to agree with someone’s self-destructive tendencies. We all agree that it would be incredibly harmful to indulge an addict and say, “Well, if it makes you happy…” People don’t think it’s hurtful or unloving to tell the addict they need to get clean! Because to ignore the harmful habits would be unloving and unkind.
Paul wrote, “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier” (2 Timothy 2:4). And as soldiers of Christ, we aim to please Him above others. Since we should be focused on serving Christ, then obviously we should follow His Word. And His Word is truth (John 17:17). Jesus told us if we love Him, we will obey Him (John 14:15). And He also told us we can’t serve two masters (Matthew 6:24).
When we begin to compromise our stance on Biblical values — we fail all of these things. We put man’s law over God’s. We disregard or question the authenticity of Scripture. We disobey. And we ultimately serve the world, not the Lord.
The kindest way we can respond to the world is to take Jesus at His Word and share the Gospel (Matthew 28:18-20). We need to remind the world of Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
And as the church, we need to remember our own responsibilities to the Truth — “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).
I don’t want to be unkind, but I don’t want to compromise. It is hard! Which makes it obvious why it’s essential that we stay rooted in the Word and prayer.
Today, as you pray, please pray for the church, including our leaders. Pray that we can speak truth in kindness and love, knowing that there’s no place for compromise when it comes to God’s Word.
SHARING ••• My Grace-Full Life is written by Denise Heidel. You are welcome to share anything I write, but please credit my writing and graphics accordingly. Visit www.MyGraceFullLife.com to read past blogs. Subscribe through my website to have My Grace-Full Life delivered to your email. You can unsubscribe at any time. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the NKJV translation.
