Dangerous Compromise

Daily Old Testament Reading: Judges 3-5

Daily Focus Passage: Judges 3:7

The Book of Judges demonstrates the constant cycle of Israel’s obedience, disobedience, punishment, crying out, and rescue. This cycle allows us to see how the people of God lived in moments of great faithfulness and also struggled and fell into temptation. One of the strongest causes of this abandonment of following the Lord occurred when the people participated in a dangerous compromise. Compromise occurs when an agreement occurs that settles a dispute. Often, all the parties involved in the dispute make concessions for an agreement to occur. There are moments when compromise is beneficial when dealing with preference-based issues, not truth-based ones. On the flip side, believers participate in dangerous compromises when they make a concession with truth and disobey the Lord. The Book of Judges reveals this danger.  

COMPROMISING TRUTH

Judges 3:7 reveals that the people compromised truth and chased after the idols around them. The Bible describes this by announcing that the people practiced evil before the sight of the Lord. Part of this evil occurred because the people compromised the truth and accepted the ideology of the world, and refused to remain obedient to the truth. Thus, compromising truth led to the people becoming evil before the Lord.  

Today, believers must guard against compromising truth and conceding to worldly ideology. When truth becomes compromised, we justify the world's actions, beliefs, and sin by abusing and misusing Scripture. The compromising of truth means we surrender the ways of the Lord for the ways of the world because we seek acceptance and tolerance over genuine love and truth. When the truth is compromised, the Lord is rejected because the Lord will not accept a half-hearted commitment.  

DISOBEDIENT COMPROMISE

When the truth becomes compromised, the individual becomes disobedient before the Lord. In Judges 3, the people compromised the ways of the Lord and chased after the idols and things of this world. As a result, the people practiced disobedience and rebellion against the Lord and faced punishment. Compromise becomes an act of disobedience when the agreement rejects the Lord, His ways, and His Word. Disobedience occurs because the world becomes chosen over the Lord.

Today, believers must battle against participating in disobedience because of compromise. When we forgo the truth declared by the Lord and choose to live in a manner counter to the truth, we become rebels living in disobedience before the Lord. Disobedient compromise often occurs from a misunderstood concept of the love and justice of the Lord. When we identify with sinful identities and ideas of the world, we live in disobedience because one’s identity must be in Christ alone.  

BATTLING DANGEROUS COMPROMISE

Everyone faces the temptation of dangerous compromise. We often attempt to justify our actions and the actions of others by adopting a view of a distorted truth. We beAs a result, we are rebels living in disobedience and find ourselves conformed to the world's ways instead of living a life of transformation. Thus, we must battle against the threat of dangerous compromise.

RECOGNIZE THE THREAT

The first step in battling dangerous compromise is to recognize the threat. Recognizing the threat occurs when we approach life with eyes aware of our surroundings. We become able to identify areas that may tempt us to compromise what we believe, and as a result, we live aware of these areas that could be attacked as a weakness. Thus, we begin by identifying and seeing the threat.

GROUND THE SELF IN TRUTH

The second step in battling dangerous compromise is setting a foundation of truth. You cannot stand on truth without knowing the truth. Thus, we must engage the Lord and the Word of God to know the truth. Then, when we encounter the truth, we must plant the truth into our hearts and use this planted truth as the foundation for life. This provides the needed firm ground to resist the threat of dangerous compromise.

FOLLOW THE LORD

The third step in battling dangerous compromise occurs when we follow the leading and truth of the Lord. The ability to follow obediently happens when we live out of the truth planted in our hearts. We seek the Lord as the guide and director of our life. Thus, we submit all we believe and do to the leadership of the Lord. When we follow the Lord, our eyes remain fixated on truth and reject, gazing away at the temptation of dangerous compromise.

STAND FIRM IN TRUTH

The final step in battling dangerous compromise comes with the commitment to stand in truth. A commitment to stand firm in truth comes in acknowledging the source of authentic truth and the resolve to live out that truth no matter what. Standing firm in the truth means we hold the truth of the Lord as the foundation for life that provides the needed strength and guidance to live in faithfulness before the Lord. Standing firm means we battle against dangerous compromises well and reject faltering in the journey.