The FATAL COMPROMISE
-Rick Furmanek.
Is Following Hard Really Worth All the Opposition?
If you follow Jesus for any length of time... and you pursue that
relationship seriously... the Lord will eventually confront you will
a choice... a choice of obedience... a choice of loyalty. This is
part and parcel of what the Bible describes as counting the cost
of following him. Yes, there is a cost involved... on both sides of
the fence. Don't let anyone try to convince you otherwise... and
sometimes the cost is quite heavy.
Being confronted with a choice to unswervingly obey, or ignore the
opportunity for obedience and simply compromise, is not an easy
place to find yourself in... for, if we choose to compromise...
eventually we must make our way back to the Lord's throne and
openly confess our wrongdoing. It is no simple matter to approach
him with hat in hand knowing you must tell him why you did what
you did in your moment of disobedience (not to mention carrying
the Spirit of Christ that resides in you right into your disobedience)...
realizing you have no plausible defense nor excuse for your
actions/decisions as you stand before His perfection. God is
merciful to the nth degree... but He will not be toyed with nor His
grace taken advantage of nor presumed upon.
Mind you, it's quite easy to compromise at first . . . and can even
be seen as a little fun . . . as long as the price tag for the
compromise can be removed for the moment.
Remember what the writer of Hebrews says . . .
"By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the
son of Pharaoh's daughter, */choosing rather to be mistreated with
the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin/*. He
considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the
treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward."
Compromise is serious business. It happens all the time... but it
shouldn't. Whether we disobey with the cost hidden or the price
tag in full view, the consequences will be very real... and very
experienced.
But note here also, as clearly described in the story of Moses,
there is another side to this cost thing... not only is there a cost
for compromise... that you must eventually do right by your God...
but there is also a price tag for obedience. Moses chose to be
abused, misunderstood, and ill thought of, opting to identify with
the suffering people of God, rather than go the easy road of
self-serving pleasure. He left riches, education and a long family
heritage in order to follow God... for he had an understanding of
the big picture and what mattered most.
From this example of Moses, we see that there is a cost involved
in following.
Jesus' own words affirm this again and again. In fact, he
challenged, and even expected us to count the cost before we
bend a knee to him. If the hearer didn't think the cost is worth it...
Jesus was willing to let them go their own way. And while he is
always willing to receive them back... he doesn't expect a person
to do it blindly or without understanding what is involved and what
is required in following him.
Remember the Disciples who left behind family, friends, jobs and
homes for the sake of the Kingdom? I'm sure that was not easy to
do... but they counted the cost and did it anyway... and most
likely made the hard choice in the face of some pretty serious opposition.
I'm going to step out and make an assumption here... I'm going to
assume that you have understood to some degree what I've tried
to communicate up to this point... and I'm going to assume you
understand at least the concept that there is a price tag attached
to following Christ.
That said, what might the cost of following hard after Jesus in
today's world look like? First off, if we take our responsibility
seriously and approach life with a desire to live a life for Christ
without compromise... we can rest assured that, as the Bible
promises, we will encounter opposition. To encounter no
opposition and at the same time call ourselves a Christian should
be cause for concern, for something is not right.
Note that opposition will come in many shapes and forms... some
we won't expect... catching us completely off guard, thus testing
our obedience... and other opposition we will plainly see gathering
on the horizon, thus testing our loyalty. No matter where it comes
from, we mustn't forget this truth, following Jesus Christ
wholeheartedly will produce opposition from those around us... at
times even from those we love the most.
In recollecting this afternoon from some recent experiences, I've
come up with... what I think are key areas from which you can
pretty much expect opposition for carrying the name of Jesus with
you in an uncompromising way.
Here they are:
-* Your mere presence may make others uncomfortable. *
Therefore, because of this, some are likely to try to avoid you. The
Truth shown forth in the Light is something that this world would
prefer not to experience. Light reveals those secrets we have
spent tireless years trying to keep tucked away in a dark corner.
Expect that your desire to walk in the Light... to be open and
transparent... to lead a no-compromise sort of life... will make
others uncomfortable... not intentionally, but as a natural
by-product of your taking the name of Christ with you into places
where He's not necessarily welcome... at least not the Lordship
side of Him.
-*You as a person may be seen as unkind. *
No doubt about it... we are to love... we are commanded to love...
we are told that without love our message is meaningless and
worthless... we are told that our love is the telltale sign of our
following Jesus... but how love is defined and fleshed out today is
so different from the biblical description of love. We mustn't let
that important point... the change in the connotation of the word,
love, trip us up in our Christian expression of love.
What you will find today is that those who watch you, listen to
you and interact with you as you follow Christ... are likely to
conclude that you are quite intolerant and inconsiderate of others.
People today... even a lot of religious folk... really do have a
problem with Jesus being the only way and the necessity of dying
to self and forsaking all in order to have real life.
Fellow-follower, I don't care how you package it, you can drape
love all over it... but try rebuking, correcting, admonishing... again
in love... and the likely reaction you'll get from the 21st century
man... and lots of religious folk... is that you are just not a very
nice person. Again, with the concept of love being so
misunderstood today and often defined as absolute toleration of
everyone and every belief surrounding you... we must be patient
and make a concerted effort to attach a proper definition to the
word love for our listeners and observers to grasp and hold on to,
and then demonstrate it before them as a witness for our Lord.
That in itself might be the greatest act of kindness we can show
them. And that act of kindness is not random... no, it's very intentional.
This week has been tough. I've experienced a few of these very
things in my own life. Is it rewarding being misunderstood?
Definitely not. Am I glad I was rejected? Not on your life. Would I
prefer not to travel this route? You bet. But it really does come
down to this simple statement that as a follower of Jesus I must
confess again and again...
/... yet not my will, but Yours be done. /
Stay strong in Him... take courage... our redemption is drawing near.
... "Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to
abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such
good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of
doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on
the day he visits us."
