I woke up this morning reminded of a situation experienced back in early 2000 that effected my thinking. It is possible a short series of posts regarding compromise will be forthcoming.
There was a pastor I knew and respected. He was not only a pastor but a talented musician. At that time, I was playing the keyboard resulting in common interests.
Worship and commitment to God was at the forefront of my life. It was probably 7 to 10 years prior that I had come back to the Lord in relationship. When that happened, I got rid of secular music and only listened to Christian music. One day, the pastor shared with me that he loved a certain secular band that he enjoyed listening to. Who knew, it was my favorite band too.
I learned that even though he was a pastor, he very much enjoyed rock and roll music. Because I respected this pastor and his logic seemed justified, I found myself questioning whether I should go back and at least be able to listen to a band favorite from the past.
In the end, I chose not to return to the music of my past because, simply put, it was not edifying. It did not feed my soul with anything beneficial.
So where is the compromise in this story? It is my opinion when we feed our soul with things from this world, it weakens us. Feeding our soul can be compared to how we feed our body with food. Do we eat garbage or quality real foods? Junk foods allows us to get by...yes, but it does not strengthen the body. Over time, the body begins to suffer from a lack of proper nutrition. Feeding our soul can be viewed the same way.
Before jumping to conclusions, here this out. The pastor who I respected and looked up to reasoned with me that secular music was ok even while walking in close relationship with Jesus. How is it then, did this pastor get himself into a situation of being caught in a marital affair?
Am I implying the music made him do it? Not at all. What I'm implying is we are what we consume. When we fill our mind and heart of the things of this world, we cloud our ability to reason. We are lacking Godly wisdom and make decisions that do not lead to life but rather find ourselves in a place of losing, being robbed of finance or joy, being left for dead, or utterly destroyed emotionally. Isn't that the scriptural plan of the devil? John 10:10 is clear. The thief comes only to kill, steal, and destroy. Somewhere along the way, my friend moved out of abiding with Jesus. Somewhere along the way, his time with his heavenly Father was exchanged for other things that ultimately affected his relationship with God, his family, the church, and who knows how many others. Chances are compromise started small but over time, like with leaven affecting a loaf of dough for break, his life was overcome by sin compromising all aspects of his life.
I can't afford to continue to live in compromise, not even a little bit. It really is not that I can't afford to compromise as much as I don't want to. Some may say that this kind of life is too extreme and too black and white. Isn't it? Is the grey we paint nothing more than excuses used for the opportunity to feed our freshly passion and desire....the very passions and desires we are told to nail to a cross? Galatians 5:24
How will I honor and respect the God who created the universe, who gave up his son to become a man of flesh, then stepped in front of life itself and die for me?
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