Compromise

Compromise

When you hear the report, “Well, you were right,” it is often received with a smug delight and sense of accomplishment. I believe it is part of our human experience to desire and want to be correct and accurate regarding our viewpoint and opinion. This is especially true when you predict a positive outcome such as “What did I tell you. I knew you could do it!” This acknowledgement of “correctness” can, however, carry a negative response and a desire to be wrong or incorrect. The prophets of old often gave correct but grave warnings regarding God’s pending judgement. I am sure they desired to be wrong regarding the end results. They were in many cases ignored, threatened, harmed and sometimes killed. I’m sure the people would have responded differently if their message had been one that included sunshine, rainbows and full bellies. I’m not a prophet but I do try to pay attention to what God reveals to me. Over 20 years ago, I began to see a pattern of compromise in the church regarding the issue of pornography use within the church. This seemed to go with a recurring theme verbalized by young Christians of that time period, “It’s just not that big of a deal to us.” The path of compromise does not produce integrity or strengthen our principles. Compromise produces more levels of compromise. Each generation moves the boundaries of integrity and principles further down the road. It reaches a point where we don’t look any different than the rest of the world.

The Barna Group recently released some updated statistics regarding pornography use by Christians and non-Christians. I will let you peruse the report for yourself. Click?here?to find the report. There are 4 concerning issues arising from this report. One is that the numbers for non-Christians and Christians are very similar. Two, the rise in pornography use by females. Three, the lack of resources for help provided by the church. Lastly, that?62% of Christians surveyed?believed consuming porn on a regular basis does not cause any harm. This last issue concerns me the most because it is the result of believing porn usage is “just not that big of a deal” for decades. I began warning churches many years ago regarding this pattern but in many cases it was ignored or minimized. At the same time, I would hear pastors describe sexual sin as the biggest problem in the church today. In most cases when I address this issue in a church group setting, I don’t get asked to return. In a few situations, I have been confronted and threatened regarding the issue of sexual sin within the church. The message of sexual sin and pornography use in the church is an unpleasant and messy topic to venture into. I believe the rise of the user-friendly approach from churches has added to barriers in addressing this plight. God’s people failed to respond to the unpleasant warnings given to them from his prophets and the consequences were harsh. I’ll be honest. I’m tired of delivering a repeated message with no response or movement to address this issue. We can address this issue today with truth, grace and understanding or we can continue to follow the path of compromise. I would really like to be wrong on this issue but if we fail we will lose another generation to the pitfalls of sexual sin.?

Joshua 24:15?And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the?Lord,?choose this day whom you will serve, whether?the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or?the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.?But as for me and my house, we will serve the?Lord.

Jonathan Jones, President and Founder of?Perfect Hope Ministry

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