Compromise Will Sink Church — E.A. Johnston

Courage, Conviction, and the Warning of Asa

In 2nd Chronicles, in chapter 15, and in verse 8, we read,. And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of the land. Courage and compromise have always stood at polar opposites.

The Puritans’ Convictions Under Religious Persecution

One must have courage for their convictions. But the trouble is, does anyone have any convictions today in a society that has blurred the lines of right and wrong, and good and evil? In the times of England, when Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1558, the religion of England was mixed, as the people were sometimes Protestant, sometimes Catholic, and sometimes a mixture of half and half, depending on the prevailing wind of government-dictated religion.

It was a time when compromise was everywhere. In the year 1559, Parliament passed an act for the uniformity of common prayer and the service of the church and administration of the sacraments. Queen Elizabeth resolved that all should conform to her worship or suffer the severest penalties of the law.

And in 1662, the act of uniformity forced 2 ,000 of England's best ministers out of their pulpits as they refused to take an oath that would compromise their convictions and beliefs, and they were suspended from their livings, deposed, fined, imprisoned, and their families and interests ruined for refusing to conform to the established ritual.

The Puritans held firm to their convictions and took courage and refused to conform or compromise, and it cost them dearly. We live in a day in our churches of blurred lines where a compromise to the gospel is common and conformity to the world is normal.

Self-Preservation and Conformity in the Modern Church

If a state religion was imposed on us, we would merely step over another blurred line and conform to it as our religion today would make the Puritans blush with embarrassment. Gone is the spirit of the martyrs in the American church today.

We're too focused on self-preservation to consider any sacrifice that would cost us something personal for the sake of Christ and the gospel. But in the land today, the bane of the church is self-preservation and self-indulgence, compromise and conformity.

The gospel message is all about us served on a man-centered platter at a sumptuous banquet table laden with delicacies. Other generations knew the price of discipleship and the cost of following a crucified Christ.

The Cost of Discipleship and the Witness of the Martyrs

John the Baptist had a platter with his head upon it. Stephen was baptized with stones as he saw Jesus rise from his throne. Paul finished his ministry not with accolades or applause but with a falling axe.

The blood of the martyrs cries out against the self-absorbed church of this generation. I think one of the best things that could happen in America right now is for a state-imposed religion upon the churches that would consider it a crime to anyone who refused to conform to its rituals and dictates.

Persecution as a Refining Fire for the Church

It would create a refining fire in the American church that would produce a host of preachers on fire for God and the sake of the gospel who would live as firebrands ready to be consumed for the glory of God and who were more willing to be jailed and fined for their beliefs and risk losing all they have rather than compromise themselves and conform to a brand of Christianity other than the one that is found in the Bible.

As in the days of the early church where Christians were put to death for refusing to say Caesar is Lord, perhaps God in his mercy will send a winnowing time of hot persecution to the church in America and separate some chaff from the wheat before Antichrist appears and the church is welcomed him with open arms.

The Church’s Final Warning Against Compromise

Sadly, one can't distinguish the church from the world today. Compromises everywhere from the pulpits to the pew. Compromise will sink a church as surely as sin will sink a nation. Heaven help us all.