Martin Luther had critics that suggested he compromise on some key points related to the doctrine of justification by grace through faith. Luther, in response to those critics, said, “Our stubbornness on this issue is pious and holy; for by it we are striving to preserve the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to keep the truth of the Gospel. If we lose this, we lose God, Christ, all the promises, faith, righteousness, and eternal life.”
Luther made the decision to have integrity and stay faithful to God by refusing to compromise his beliefs in the teachings of God. He wasn’t trying to please people, so he disregarded the dissenters and carried on. He made the right decision and by doing so, he was faithful to God. There should be no compromise when it comes to the teachings of the Bible.
Galatians 1:8-10 is applicable to this situation, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
With this example from Martin Luther in mind, let’s discuss compromise. Compromise is a commonly used word in politics; when two groups disagree, they compromise and take the middle ground. Compromise isn’t always bad in political situations, sometimes it’s the only road left to take. Another situation where comprise is okay is in a trivial decision, like deciding what to eat for a meal. Whether you eat tacos or lasagna is ultimately meaningless in the grand scheme of things.
With this example from Martin Luther in mind, let’s discuss compromise. Compromise is a commonly used word in politics; when two groups disagree, they compromise and take the middle ground. Compromise isn’t always bad in political situations, sometimes it’s the only road left to take. Another situation where comprise is okay is in a trivial decision, like deciding what to eat for a meal. Whether you eat tacos or lasagna is ultimately meaningless in the grand scheme of things.
Compromise is not okay, however, when it comes to God’s standards. We, as Christians, don’t get to cherry pick the Bible and decide to only follow certain commands. As stated in Deuteronomy 4:2, “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.”
Revelation 22:18-19 says something similar, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.”
We also shouldn’t choose the way of the world over the way of God. The world teaches many things that do not line up with the Bible and those are the things we must stay away from. As Christians we only hear God’s voice (John 8:47), not the voice of any other god (1 Kings 18:21). Colossians 2:8 warns us to: “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.”
The sinful things of this world are not from God, which is why we must avoid these things. “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:16-17)
Each day Christians are pressured by the world to compromise God’s standards and embrace the world’s standards. In Acts 5, when the apostles were arrested in Jerusalem after healing many people, they didn’t compromise even under the threat of arrest. This is when God sent an angel to release them and to tell them to go into the temple courts and preach the gospel. The Sanhedrin sent guards to fetch the apostles and, much to their astonishment, discovered they had escaped from jail.
Acts 5:27-29 tells us what happened next, “The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!””
This is a great segue to my final point. We can use our refusal to compromise as a way to preach the Gospel. 2 Timothy 2:24-25 says “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,”
Timothy includes that we, as the Lord’s servants, must be kind to everyone. People that seek for us to compromise on our beliefs need the grace and forgiveness of Christ just as much as we do. They may be opponents to our beliefs, but we should still speak gently and kindly to them just as we should everyone else. 1 Peter 3:15 reinforces this point, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,”
When your pressured to compromise remember to be stubborn in obeying God, just as Martin Luther was. God’s standards are the standards we should live by and not the standards of the world. Finally, remember that every situation, even when we are asked to compromise, can be used to share the Good News of Jesus Christ’s grace and forgiveness.
