Compromising Faith

Compromising Faith

12/19/14

This is a term that many of us despise yet at the same time we blindly accept it within the walls of our hearts.  The world today has the goal of compromising everything that people adhere to and have known so that it may redefine the population as a single group of people.  This philosophy is not uncommon and it truly is one of definite proportions because its goal is true and permanent separation of outside thinking.  The Church is subject to this technique and as it stands now, we are falling for it without notice.  If the truth be known a compromising faith falls into the same category as working with the enemy for in Kingdom warfare there is no compromise, only fighters for one side or the other.

For most of us the term compromise means getting things done so that some object or goal can be achieved.  There are few instances where every human agrees on all areas of a subject, so few that it is safe to say that it never occurs.  A compromise usually involves a give and take approach to the idea at hand, where some people on one side give up some of their wants in order for the opposing side to comply with other areas of the idea.  On paper this seems to be a good idea but after the project is complete we all know that there are some that have the notion that they will somehow seek and achieve revenge for giving up their “meaningful” ideas for someone else’s “petty” and indifferent thoughts.  Is this actually progress or is it a temporary reprieve to the inevitable conflict that will one day rear its ugly head?  With the settings of many governments today, the answer has proven itself to be quite clear concerning this issue.

So why is it that everyone would rather compromise their fundamental ideas and beliefs when they all know that one day things will turn ugly?  Is it a “hope springs eternal” attitude or is it one of abiding time so that we can better arm ourselves with information, arms or other weapons of personal destruction so that our ideas and side shall prevail when the time arrives.  This type of belief seems futile and has no direct and peaceful ending, so why do we even continue to pursue such an action?  Furthermore, why does the Church try and achieve this type of action fully knowing that the same result will occur since she should recognize that her opposition is our eternal enemy.  Have we forgotten the overall concept of Kingdom warfare or do we even know about it and it actually affects our lives?  I believe that the answer to both of those questions is “yes” and we need to understand once again why we are fighting and what is at stake.

When someone or a group of people accept a compromise they are essentially stuck into a negotiating process that will eventually result in a huge loss for each side.  For millennia countries, nations, territories and lands have tried this compromising idea with not much success only anger and hatred towards the other parties involved.  This is why it is important that we cannot compromise any of our personal standards and give into our enemy on any level; this includes the spiritual level as well.  This concept of compromise begins in the book of Genesis both on the spiritual side and the physical side. Yep, once again the Garden of Eden is my example; it so amazing to me how one small passage of text can produce so much information about how our lives are affected today.  The spiritual side of things begins even before the Garden in a setting that our minds hardly can imagine and that is in heaven with a situation between God and Lucifer.

Lucifer was the name of the one being that was the “second in command” if you wish to put it in those terms.  He was a powerful worship leader in heaven and had great authority in which he had been given by God.  After an unspecific amount of time his job became “mundane” to him and he decided, for whatever reason, that he wanted more.  This portion of the story is easy for us to understand because our minds choose to dream about this type of life as well.  In Lucifer’s case the idea became a reality in his individual world and one day God decided to take him up on his offer.  Lucifer was immediately filled with anger and events concluded with him being thrown out of his eternal position and given a new place of residence.  Even with this futile belief of his, Lucifer continued with his plan to out duel God and this duel continues today, with no compromise in sight.

We must keep in mind that God is a complete, honest, and total God at all times.  Once His motions are set into place they cannot be changed for if they did He would have no claim on being God of the entire existence and Satan would have legal claim to his status once again.  This is the defining point between the Kingdom lines and the defining point as to which our lives are measured and there is nothing that we can do about it.  It is a war that is constantly being played out with no compromise on either side, only battles that are won and lost, advancement or decline, nothing in between.  This spiritual battle bleeds over into the physical aspects of our lives and has the same consequences as in the spiritual, eternal life or death, nothing in between.

The human problem with this fact is that we tend to lose or to forget about what is at stake here and yet while doing so actually playing out the war that we are so desperately fighting.  It seems ironic but it is the truth because we do not recognize that everything that we do stems from this war and these actions push one kingdom forward and automatically push the other backwards.  There are many examples of this in the physical realm that include both sides of the lines and it is easy to recognize if one understands what “the lines” are and just how defined they really are.

The first example occurs in the time shortly after Jesus walked the earth and involved the Roman Empire and the Early Church.  In Asia Minor there was a province named Bithynia and it had a governor by the name of Pliny, the Younger.  It is known that the Roman Empire had strict religious laws in place when it came to worshiping their gods.  These edicts came into place throughout the entire empire and were strictly enforced at all times.  The question of Christianity was the major source of these edicts and many Christians fell into the wrath of these laws.  At one point Pliny wrote to Emperor Trajan and asked him to clarify his position on the law breaking Christians and how he should handle them when they were located.  Trajan responded by telling him to uphold the law but allow them to recant if they wished and all charges would be dropped against them.  This was Trajan’s compromise to the Christians and for many of the Roman citizens it seemed like a fair one at that.  But to many of the Christians this compromise was a slap in the faith, if you wish, and they continued to ignore its content and practiced their complete faith.

Governor Pliny made a statement at one point after a long torture session of two deaconesses and that was he understood that these people broke the law and had to be punished but he also came to the conclusion that the Christians were virtuous people.  He also found their actions far more than appalling because they were caught breaking the law, had the opportunity to make a compromise and walk away free yet refused to do so because of their governmental religious atheism.  It was this act of religious belief by the Roman Empire and the Christians that defined the eternal war for our lives.  The earthly laws were in place and even provided a compromise to the other side of the fight, but at the same time the other side did not offer a compromise only a steadfast position on eternity.  Interesting fact isn’t it; ever wonder why Jesus never compromised God and His existence?  And have you ever wondered what would have happened to the foundation of the Early Church if these members did accept this compromise by the world?

Let me flip the tables for a minute and look at the other side of things concerning the Church and let’s see what happens when the Church does make an unknowingly compromise with the world.  We can find this example during the end of the medieval time period in history.  Many of us know that the Medieval Church had some real crazy laws and were very temperamental about them along with their methods of distribution of them as well.  In this example I am going to focus on the Kingdom of Spain in the year 1492.  There was an important event that occurred during this year and it of course to our American egos we automatically think of Columbus and his discovery voyage of the Americas.  But there was a sinister event that took place that year as well and it had the Church’s diabolical fingerprints all over it.

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain were very devout Catholics and they had no intentions of giving up any of their ideas, philosophies and land to anyone who did not believe as they.  So an article of self Catholic containment was drafted and came to be known as the Edict of Expulsion.  This law was strictly directed towards the Jews and how much the Church despised their existence within “Catholic lands”.  It was made clear to them that the government of Spain would seek them out and provide the full punishment of the Edict as soon as possible.  The initiation of the Spanish Inquisition was soon governed and the result of this Edict and Inquisition cost thousands of Jewish lives all in the name of God.  This Inquisition is one of the most notorious and gut wrenching historical facts of the Catholic Church that can never be denied but it can represent a reason for the Church not to bend or waiver from the laws of God either.  The problem is that we allow our eyes to become fixed upon the world and its standards then this action results in conforming our minds and hearts to its status, automatically losing focus upon God and His ways.  Which is exactly the compromising position that our enemy wishes us to take.

While Ferdinand and Isabella believed that what they were doing for the Church was a sign of respect and godly, it was actually an act of our enemy to advance his kingdom against the people of the world and towards the chosen people of God.  There is no way that we can ever say that this act of the Catholic Church was sanctioned by God, nor did it have anything to do with God Himself either.  It was part of the spiritual warfare that we witness each day of our lives but fail to recognize this because we have watered down the gospel of God so much that it can fit into an 8 oz. drinking glass.  This is what occurs when the Church compromises, inadvertently or voluntarily with the world and she is on course for this type of scenario to occur once again.

So far I have given examples of a Church that stood its ground and did not waiver in its beliefs and it cost many lives simply because they were Christians.  I have also given an example of what occurs when the Church compromises with the world setting and how it costs other people their lives.  Both examples resulted in the result of the usage of God and His name yet one is pure and one is evil.  These examples are perfect in laying out the definition of the battle lines and what is at stake, our lives!  And when dealing with a life there can never be any compromise, for if someone does then their life shall always be at risk for eternal destruction.

How does this affect the Church of today?  I am glad you asked because we the current modern day Church is at the decision making point to which direction she shall take.  Both examples above proved that those people had choices to make concerning their faith and their lives.  Both examples also proved that the governments involved had options to take for compromise yet failed to grant sustainable and viable exemptions to the people in question.  We are at this point in modern times once again for it is very clear that we have refused or totally ignored human history once again.  The Church has also lost her separation status from the world and has begun reconciliation with it and if allowed to continue, will bring up another global disaster for humanity.

The governments around the world have adopted certain laws and edicts that go directly against God’s Word, the Church knows this.  Yet the Church is so divided on these matters and the main question is, why?  The denominational spirits that control the Church of today are so strong and in such control that it holds more power within the Church than the Word of God.  This is the danger about denominations and it once again has its grip around the neck of the Church.  These governmental laws are forcing the Church to make a choice whether to stand against them or to follow along with worldly standards.  The indecisions of the Church prove that we once again have no clue about the laws of God and what they mean to our lives.  We have voluntarily blinded ourselves and if we do not take the shields off of our spiritual eyes quickly, we will once again find ourselves losing life.

Will the Church go down in God’s history book as the Church who stood up for His ways and laws and sacrificed our lives for the advancement of His Kingdom?  Or will we be as the Medieval Catholic Church was and compromisingly align ourselves up with the world governments in order to further our congregational numbers by throwing around our superficial worldly status?  It is imperative that we understand that there is a definitive battle line that has been both physically and spiritually drawn and we are right in the middle of the fighting.  There is NO getting around this fact and it is a must that the Church recognizes this.  It is the duty of our enemy to shield us from the truth and it is the duty of his kingdom to ensure that we do as much damage to our eternal livelihood as possible.

Compromising our faith is a perfect example of how our enemy is accomplishing this feat.  The world may seem to have open arms in this compromising attitude that the Church is displaying with it, but at some point that compromise shall be used against us in order to advance the world’s cause and the Church shall be expected to compromise herself once again.  Once a compromise process has begun the doors to the world are flung wide open and the spiritually legal terms come into play.  We cannot control the Trajan’s, Pliny’s, Ferdinand’s and Isabella’s edicts once we have chosen them into power and it will become obvious at some point where we will have to make a choice whether or not to stand for what we really believe in or not; that is a guarantee.

We cannot afford a spiritual compromise of faith nor can we afford a physical compromise of faith either.  It is time that we open our hearts and return to the Word of God for guidance.  WE need to stand for God and His ways and reject the governmental garbage that they wish for us to make penance to.  There is a definite defining boundary that we need to recognize and we need to understand that this boundary is a solid one in composition but a fluid one in action.  The boundary cannot be breached nor can it be dissolved but it can move back and forth depending upon what humanity does.  Seem wild?  It is but it is the truth and one can see this boundary move both in the physical and spiritual realms if we only open our eyes and look at it.  Never compromise faith!!

DLB