July 8

July 8, 2009

Beware of Compromise

2 Kings 17:40-41 They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.

In our reading today we discovered the reason why this nation was judged by God. They had a divided heart. Time after time in our reading we saw their compromise with sin:
Worshiping other gods
Secretly doing wrong
Building of high places
Not listening to God
Rejecting and neglecting his Word
Bowing down to the stars
Killing their babies
It wasn’t as if they totally neglected God, no they went to synagogue but on the way home they compromised their faith. They intermingled their faith and the culture. This idolatry still abounds today. We have 68% of Americans claiming to be “Christian” yet we are committed to self above God, to materialism, to the gods of sexual erotica, and the gods of entertainment and comfort. We have failed to see how deadly compromise and sin is in our lives.

Israel was destroyed because of their sin. They never connected the relationship between sin and death. In the USA right now we have the same level of neglect and denial. We live in a culture that literally worships sin. Here is what Albert Dahlquist wrote concerning our compromise.

The seven deadly sins have become our American virtues.... Lust is America's favorite indoor sport. Gluttony can be seen in the national passion for fancy recipes and high-priced restaurants. Sloth is celebrated in fashionable magazines in the guise of leisure, recreation, and entertainment. Pride abounds in names such as black pride, gay pride, and lesbian pride. Wrath is the great virtue of revolutionaries and reformers. Envy, as Bertrand Russell said, is the basis of democracy. And avarice keeps our stock markets humming.
"In the old days, punishment was essential for sin, yet the idea of punishment seems as obsolete as sin itself. One prominent clergyman has said that people are more afraid of losing their jobs than they are of going to hell."

The probing question is: Where are we compromising our faith these days? Sin always leads to death. Death of individuals and death of nations.