Little Compromises

How many times has Christianity in the last 2000 years went through times of decline and had huge revivals?

I don’t think any of us can argue that the church in America is in rapid decline. If someone does want to say there isn’t a decline, I’m going to ask them to take a cognitive test.

Why do these declines in the church happen?

We could come up with thousands of reasons for the recent decline of the church in America. However, there’s a book in the OT that parallels our current society today very well.

The Book of Judges is a historical narrative about Israel’s conquest victories and mostly of Israel’s failures to remain faithful. It’s about God’s people being despicable and doing deplorable things.

Judges shows Israel (God’s chosen people) slowly fading away from faith in God. Even those who God raises up to redeem them, the judges, become more and more flawed.

The key verse in the Book of Judges is Judg17:6

Judges 17:6 NKJV

6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

The second part of that verse summarizes the Book of Judges so well. “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Could we possibly be seeing that in the church today?

A poll done in 2022 shows that just 37% of Christian pastors have a biblical worldview. While 62% of Christian pastors hold a syncretism world view. A view that includes a mixture of different worldview elements among a customized philosophy of life.

The Church didn’t get that way overnight. It was a long series of little compromises that has led to the current state of the church.

Now, before I get too far in I must address the elephant in the room. The usual backlash we face from secular society and even sometimes within the church itself.

Why would a loving God order the genocide of all the people in Canaan? Why would a loving God kill so many innocent people?

There are so many problems with the current moral outrage that I cannot list them all here. I’ll highlight two major ones here.

First the Canaanites are not innocent people. They stand directly in God’s judgement for their history filled with a laundry list of sins. They include incest, bestiality, and child sacrifices. You can find those in Lev 18:6-30 and Deut 18:9-14.

Second, These human moral judgements promise way more than they can ultimately deliver. They assume that our limited, sinful nature is a better judge of right and wrong than an omniscient and Holy God who created us.

We could go on for days about this and send our anxiety through the roof. Instead, let’s look at what Judges tells us about another group of God’s people who went off the rails.

Judges is the continuation of the conquest to take the land of Canaan promised by God. It starts similar to the Book of Joshua. With the loss of their great leader. But this time God doesn’t give Joshua a successor to lead the people of Israel.

Let’s read our passage for today. Judges 1:1-2:5

Judges 1:1–2:5 NKJV

1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, “Who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?” 2 And the Lord said, “Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.” 3 So Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory.” And Simeon went with him. 4 Then Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they killed ten thousand men at Bezek. 5 And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 And Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me.” Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died. 8 Now the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it; they struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. 9 And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains, in the South, and in the lowland. 10 Then Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron. (Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kirjath Arba.) And they killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. 11 From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir was formerly Kirjath Sepher.) 12 Then Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.” 13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife. 14 Now it happened, when she came to him, that she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?” 15 So she said to him, “Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. 16 Now the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which lies in the South near Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people. 17 And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called Hormah. 18 Also Judah took Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. 19 So the Lord was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron. 20 And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. Then he expelled from there the three sons of Anak. 21 But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. 22 And the house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. 23 So the house of Joseph sent men to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city was formerly Luz.) 24 And when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and we will show you mercy.” 25 So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go. 26 And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day. 27 However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. 28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out. 29 Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; so the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. 30 Nor did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites dwelt among them, and were put under tribute. 31 Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. 32 So the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out. 33 Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but they dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were put under tribute to them. 34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; 35 and the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; yet when the strength of the house of Joseph became greater, they were put under tribute. 36 Now the boundary of the Amorites was from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela, and upward. 1 Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you. 2 And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? 3 Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’ ” 4 So it was, when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5 Then they called the name of that place Bochim; and they sacrificed there to the Lord.

As we go through this passage I want to look at how it relates to the current condition of the church. It relates through the categories of:

Courageous Faith

Compromised Faith

Consequences of Compromised Faith

Judges lays out a pattern that we all too comfortably assume is far removed from us. But the reality is that in our assumption we miss just how dangerously close it is to us.

Courageous Faith

Israel began a successful conquest under Joshua’s leadership. Their faithful trust led to sweeping victories. In the wake of his death, Israel still had to finish the conquest, without a leader taking Joshua’s place.

Israel attempts to complete the conquest on a tribe by tribe basis. Without any God appointed leader it would take courageous faith to finish the conquest.

They faithfully reach out to the Lord and ask who should be the first to go up against the Canaanites.

God says Judah is to go and declares He has already delivered the land into Judah’s hand. They have many victories, “the Lord gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands,” to “Judah took Gaza with its territory, Askelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.

I want to point out a three verse passage that is important in understanding courageous faith. Verses 11 thru 15 narrowly focus in on one spiritually faithful family. The family of faithful Caleb. This is a highlighter moment.

The author is pinpointing through one family the faith all of Israel should have. Caleb offers his daughter “Acsah” to “whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it.”

Whoever took the city would have to rely fully on the faith of the Lord. He wanted for the life of Acsah and her family the same he had chosen for the life of his family. A life of covenant faithfulness and courageous obedience in response to God’s promises.

Acsah shows her faithful upbringing by asking her new husband Othniel to ask her father Caleb for a field. She then adds her own request “give me springs of water.”

We couldn’t ask for a better display of understanding God’s blessings and a willingness to settle in and enjoy the blessings. The family displays whole-hearted discipleship.

Caleb, Othniel, and Acsah with the Kenites, distant relatives descended from Moses’ father-in-law, are the role models that rebuke the rest of the people. They are the ones that represent and display true, radically courageous faith.

Unlike the rest of Israel they represent uncompromised faith.

Compromised Faith

Israel’s compromised faith begins with Judah. God said, “Judah shall go up.” But what does Judah do? He asks Simeon to go with him. You help me and I’ll help you.

It’s easy to read right past it because it makes logical sense. Bigger army better chances of winning. The problem is God wanted Judah to go first, not Judah and Simeon.

Yes God still blessed Judah in many victories. Then Judah fails to take the plains because they had iron chariots. We can empathize with them right?

It would be like an army of foot soldiers today going against an army of tanks. It would seem like an impossible task. But God already promised victory. He said I have already given the land into his hands.

Then we hear about all the other tribes who did not drive out the inhabitants of the land. They were persistent and so we compromised. Or we just allowed them to live among us.

Even the ones where they made the inhabitants slaves. A nation that just a few generations ago escaped over 400 years of slavery in Egypt is now enslaving other nations.

They compromised because the conflict seemed beyond their ability to win. How often do we do the same thing? We are called to some business venture or ministry that just doesn’t seem like it’s possible.

Logic says there’s no possible way it can work out. So, we either only do a small part of it or we walk away from it completely.

That’s how God works. He wants us to rely n Him. He give us things that seem impossible and expects us to step out in faith. If we take the step, He will provide everything we need.

The other thing we see is they compromise for convenience. It was a much easier life to enslave the inhabitants and have them do the work than it was to drive them out.

How many churches do we see that are willing to go along to get along? They compromise the gospel so they can pad their pew numbers. So they can increase their revenue with butts in the pews.

There are consequences to these compromises.

Consequence of Compromised Faith

In chapter 2 verse 2 the Angel of the Lord tells Israel “you have not obeyed My Voice… therefore, they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”

Notice two distinct consequences in these verses. The first are real world physical consequences. “They will be thorns in your side.”

There are going to be ongoing wars and battles. Physical worldly upheaval filled with chaos, destruction, and conflict.

The second are spiritual consequences. “Their gods shall be a snare to you.” Idolatry will bring a continued separation from God.

Make no mistake, we endure the same consequences today. None of us are immune from this statement of fact.

We live under a new covenant in the blood of Jesus Christ. Our commandments are not to fight physical battles and annihilate the world around us.

Our commandments are to Love God, Love others, and go make disciples. But, this same statement of fact still remains.

Jesus said the world will hate us because they hated Him first paraphrased from Jn 15:18. They will be thorns in our sides. They will push immoral agendas upon the whole of our society. They will demonize and preach falsehoods about Christianity and Jewish tradition.

Paul says in Romans 7:15

Romans 7:15 ESV

15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

Anything we put above and/or before God is idolatry. We like to use the word sin, but let’s face it, that’s nothing more than a catchall phrase for disobedience.

Every time we are disobedient that action can be tied back to some secular world’s god. The church watered it down with the creation of the Seven Deadly Sins and how every in is under one of those categories.

However, if we are honest with ourselves, and each other, we would understand that each one of those sins has ties back to one or more of the many Gentile gods referenced in this passage.

They cause a distance between us and God. They cause a lack of success in ministries. They even cause a lack of success in our daily lives in regard to God’s will.

Stepping out in faith takes courage. When God calls us to do ministry or to do something in our lives for Him. It usually involves faith.

It involves stepping out into something that can’t be reconciled with the world view. It doesn’t logically make sense. It appears to the world and logical thinking to have zero chance of success.

We look at that and we start making little compromises. We might say well, if I do this, then it might have a chance to succeed.

We might half-heartedly say, well let’s give it a go. Then at the first instance of struggle we just stop. We say that didn’t work, but I gave it a shot.

The real world consequences could be lost investment, possibly public ridicule, maybe even lost jobs, broken families, and the list goes on.

The spiritual consequences are far worse. The least of them is that we miss out on the blessings God was going to bestow upon us.

Far worse we begin to lose our faith. We begin to rely less on God in our lives and more upon ourselves and the world around us.

We make less and less impact for the kingdom and provide more and more ammunition to be used against the kingdom.

We begin to see more and more compromises in the church. The church is divided more than ever in the United States because of these little compromises over time.

We can’t be reliable for other congregations, other denominations, or other Christians or self-proclaimed Christians. But we are reliable for our own church, our own lives.

How much are we to blame for the compromises in the churches we have attended, even been leaders?

How much are we still compromising today?

Stepping out in faith is probably the scariest thing I have ever done. It is definitely the hardest thing I have ever done.

But, when I have stayed with God in faith instead of compromising or quitting, it has definitely been the most rewarding thing I have ever done.

The blessings I received were far beyond what I could have imagined. My faith in God grew so much. And the best part is how much closer I grew to our gracious, merciful triune God.

We are a small church with little resources and hearts full of faith. We have a God given ministry that has been successful by God’s hand thus far.

Let’s remain faithful in the moments of struggle as much as in the moments of success. Give God the glory and allow our little church show the world how God makes the difference.