Our God whom we serve is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods nor worship the golden statue that you have set up- Daniel 3:18-19 NASB

Nobody likes to talk about the C-word in churchy circles anymore.  However, we live in a time and place that pretty much openly demands God’s people compromise on the things that matter most to God (Matthew 10:33, Romans 1:16, Hebrews 2:3).  We live in a world where simply having the “wrong” political views can get one canceled by family, friends and coworkers. This makes the temptation to keep one’s faith and views regarding hell, sexuality and the belief in one God and one way to that God on the downlow are greater than they have been since the days of the early church. No one outside of Christianity believes in absolute truth anymore. This means Christians are surrounded on all sides by those who believe in their heart of hearts it is perfectly okay to behave however they please, identify as whatever they please and believe anything they please (2nd Timothy 3:1-5).  None of these folks are okay being told they are wrong (2nd Timothy 4:3-4). This reality intensifies any desires we might have already had to keep unpopular religious perspectives quiet (1st Corinthians 6:9-11, Galatians 5:19-20, Ephesians 5:5).  Complicating things further, humans were created by a relational God to be relational beings (Genesis 1:26-27). Therefore, it is hard baked into human nature to want to be liked and accepted by others. Sadly, the enemy of our souls knows this about us. If we allow him to, he will use our desire for to be liked and accepted by others to his advantage by bringing social shame and sometimes even persecution for holding the “wrong views.

That being said.

The stakes are high when it comes to compromise.  There has not been a time since the days of the early church when it was more critical for Christians to be bold in their faith and live lives free from the sin of compromise (Revelation 2:26). We live in a world where the vast majority of people are literally dying from lack a lack of biblical understanding (Hosea 4:6). Those of us who know Jesus were put on this earth to spread truth to those living in ignorance (Matthew 5:15-16, Acts 13:47, 1st Peter 3:15).  Letting go of the desire to compromise to keep the peace or make life less messy is not easy.  It becomes easier when we clearly understand the hidden consequences of compromise.

Loss of spiritual credibility when prayers are answered and people turn to Jesus-

When non-believers finally get to the place where they choose to acknowledge Jesus as Lord, they do not turn to the Christians who worked hard to be inoffensive and milk-toasty about their faith. They tend to ignore those folks, sometimes even viewing them with derision. Instead, new believers run with a spirit of gratitude to the Christians who never failed to hold up a standard of righteousness and truth (2nd Timothy 2:4, Titus 2:1). This does not give anyone permission to be disrespectful, needlessly harsh or unloving in the way they present the gospel (1st Peter 3:15, Ephesians 4:15). The goal of Christianity is to be thoroughly loving in how we approach unbelievers with truth (1st Corinthians 16:14, 1st Peter 4:8, Colossians 3:14, 1st John 4:19). That said, we are also told to be thoroughly honest concerning the consequences of refusing Jesus’ gracious offer of salvation (John 3:18, Romans 1:20, Hebrews 3:12, Acts 16:31). When love and truth are combined with holy boldness we will eventually reap the rewards of a beautiful spiritual harvest  (Galatians 6:9).

We lose opportunities to influence others-

Jesus was crystal clear in his teachings: this life is not really about this life. This life is vapor that is really all about the next eternal life (James 4:14). How we choose to live, who we choose to help and how we choose to influence others with the gospel will all help determine what eternal life is going to look like for us (Matthew 25:14-30, Matthew 25:31-46, Mark 10:29-31). When we choose to compromise on truth for the sake of safety or keeping the peace, we are really exchanging eternal pleasure and blessings for very limited short-term gain.

And finally,

We miss out on the blessings of doing God’s work on earth-

Eternal life is something every Christian should look forward to with joy and anticipation. However, it is not the only blessing we experience as Christians. One of the most profound blessings we experience as Christians is the blessing of knowing we have been a part of someone else’s salvation story. When we share our testimony and lead others to Jesus, we are literally doing God’s most important work here on earth. Leading another person to Jesus is the most satisfying thing a human being can experience in this life. Sadly, spiritual and moral compromise eliminates many opportunities we might have had to share the gospel with others. Even if we do get the opportunity to share the gospel moral and spiritual compromises make us less credible witnesses.

Standing up for what we know to be real and true can be difficult and even a little intimidating. It’s also a key to living a truly satisfying Christian life. Living for Jesus is what we were made for and when we do what we were made for there’s a joy and satisfaction we cannot get any other way.