Are we really so different? Are we really supposed to be? Why cannot the church and the world hold hands and get along?
Throughout the age of the church, Christians have faced the temptation to compromise. Once Constantine made Christianity officially the thing in Rome, the church had to wrestle with the temptation to become more like the world in order to be more well-liked by the world. During the rise of theological liberalism, teachers began to tone down claims of the miraculous to look more like a naturalistic and scientific culture. And in a world that embraces new concepts relating to sexuality, gender, the family, and so much more, churches are tempted to reshape the message of the Scripture to be more widely accepted.
Sometimes Christians are tempted to compromise as they hope for popularity. The feeling is that, if we can just get folks to think we are a helpful part of our community and we do not cause trouble, we will become the place people in town want to be. Sometimes Christians shift their values out of fear, not wanting to face the hardships of persecution. Sometimes folks have compromised out of a desire to be evangelistic. The misguided hope of these folks is that, if we stop talking about sex or about the latest pet peeve of the media, people will give our gospel a hearing; and isn’t that what is most important?
But I wonder if, as we are tempted to compromise and value the things that the world values, we are forgetting just how big is the gap between the ways of the Lord and the ways of the world. Have we forgotten that there really are different sides, and those sides are far apart when it comes to being right with God?
In Luke 16, Jesus confronted the Pharisees who had become lovers of money. These men compromised for the sake of personal, financial gain. They loved the applause of men.
Luke 16:14-15
14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. 15 And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
Consider that last line from Jesus once again: “What is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” How true is this in our culture? Our society is exalting things today that God calls abominations.
What should we do with this thought? Let me suggest two things. First, we should pray that God would give us a heart to exalt what he loves and see as abominable what he calls abomination. Let us not think that we are so cultured that we have gone beyond the standards of God. God’s standards are not out-of-touch with reality. On the contrary, modern reality is out-of-touch with truth.
Think about your own heart here. What does it chase? What do you value? Do you love the things God loves? Do you hate the things God hates? Do you want things for yourself that God has called dangerous or destructive? Do you accept as the new normal things that God says are unacceptable? Ask the Lord to shape, cleanse, mold, and renew your heart and mind.
Second, let us be careful, as we seek to shift our hearts, that we not become cruel or nasty people in the process. There must be a way to see things in our society as abominable before God, speak the truth, and do so in a way that is not itself mean-spirited. We must pray that we will stand firm, avoid compromise, and speak the truth in love.
The word abomination is a harsh one. But since it is God’s word and not ours, we ought not avoid it. But you can call a thing an abomination with sorrow or with arrogance. One way of speaking includes compassion, kindness, and humility. The other way looks like the Pharisee and is sharp, bitter, and cruel.
May we learn to have the compassion that Christ showed when sinful people were around him. May we learn never to embrace or even accept sin. May we never be so foolish as to think that ignoring evil will make our churches grow to the glory of God. But may we also, even with tears, hold out a true gospel to a lost and dying world.
Pastor Travis Peterson 