The Fatal Compromise

By 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.” http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=44919&forum=34

5 Signs You May Have a Wrong View of God

If the truth sets us free, then it's safe to say that a lie holds us back. What we believe about the nature of God is of infinite importance. We are either growing in freedom or we are becoming disenfranchised.

There is one foundational truth about God’s nature by which every other aspect of His nature should be measured: God is love (1 John 4:8).

Jesus is the perfect expression of what love looks and sounds like, of what love does. He is perfect theology.

A true view of God will free and empower sons and daughters to live like Jesus. We have been designed and created to know God as love and to be transformed in this truth. But slipping into a false view of God as angry, vengeful, waiting for you to live up to His standards or whatever else can tamper your witness and your personal spiritual life.

A true view of God will free and empower sons and daughters to live like Jesus.

There are many different false ideas we put on God, but here are a few signs that you have a wrong view of God.

1. You're Motivated by Shame Instead of Love.

Feelings of shame or condemnation are often the evidence that you believe God’s opinion of you is determined by how much you have pursued Him or, obeyed Him or loved Him.

First, God never communicates using shame or condemnation—those feelings come from elsewhere.

Second, you get no say in how God feels about you. God is love, and His heart toward you is perfectly displayed in the life, death and resurrection of His Son.

Third, “we love because He first loved” (1 John 4:19). Your devotional life is always meant to be a response to your revelation of His love, not motivated out of a fear of His anger or disappointment.

2. You’re Scared of Being ‘Outside’ of God’s Will Instead of Trusting That He's Guiding You.

God’s will isn’t a mystery. It’s not some giant puzzle He’s waiting for us to figure out or forever live outside of what He wants for us.

Being overly worried about figuring out what God wants for our lives betrays a lack of trust that He has a good plan for us, that He is the one in authority and the one ultimately guiding our lives.

If we get too caught up worrying about what we’re supposed to be doing, we may miss what God desires us to see right where we are. Jesus also told us in Luke 12:32, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for the Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom.” We can pray with confident faith for things that are of the Kingdom of heaven to come on earth and for God to use us in His bigger plan.

3. You Feel a Need to Defend the Gospel Instead of Reveal the Gospel.

There’s nothing wrong with a healthy conversation about faith, but when you feel a need to “defend the faith" at all costs, you have a misunderstanding of Jesus. Jesus didn’t live, die and rise in order to defend a set of ideals, principles or beliefs. He never defended a Gospel, He revealed it.

Jesus had one mandate: reveal His Father. He said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” He said, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14: 911).

God doesn’t need to be defended, but He loves to be revealed. To be honest, the best “defense” of the Gospel is sons or daughters living as expressions of love in every aspect of life.

Our main responsibility as a Christians is to reveal love.

4. You Equate Hardship With Holiness.

If you tend to equate pain and suffering with holiness and a Godly life, you have a misunderstanding of God’s heart.

The verse in Matthew 16, “take up your cross and follow me” is certainly an invitation to follow Jesus in every way, and pain and suffering are part of the Christian life, but they’re not the point. In fact, even Jesus’ suffering and death were not the main point—resurrection life was always the destination. “For the joy set before Him he endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2).

“Take up your cross” is not a celebration of suffering with Jesus; it’s an invitation to live in the power of the resurrection. Yes, sacrifice is a part of the journey, but suffering is not the high road to holiness. A Godly life is about living in the joy and power of resurrection life.
 

5. You're Trying Harder Instead of Being Transformed.

Jesus didn’t live, die and live again so you could try harder. He overcame in every way so you could be transformed.

Feelings of spiritual inadequacy are often the evidence that you may have a misunderstanding of His perfect love.

Jesus lived 30 years without doing any miracles. Then, after He was baptized, His Father declared, “This is my Son, whom I love, with Him I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). It begs the question, what was the Father pleased about? Jesus hadn’t done anything yet.

It was the Father’s pleasure that empowered Jesus to do all the things He is famous for.

Discipline and principles are important, but the Christian faith was never meant to be about “trying harder,” it’s about becoming sure in God’s love. Only through the discovery of God’s love and pleasure are you empowered to do the “greater works” Jesus promised and the pastor is preaching about.

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/practical-faith/5-signs-you-may-have-wrong-view-god