Who Are You Partnering With?

2 Corinthians 6:16-18 (MSG)

“Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives. God himself put it this way: “I’ll live in them, move into them; I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people. So leave the corruption and compromise; leave it for good,” says God. “Don’t link up with those who will pollute you. I want you all for myself. I’ll be a Father to you; you’ll be sons and daughters to me.” The Word of the Master, God.“

In life, we seem to see things in shades of grey. We justify our behavior. We view compromise as a good thing most of the time. We go along to get along. But God sees things as black and white. When we look at life as black and white, then we can see where compromise can become a problem. It’s one thing to compromise in a relationship in order to maintain peace–in the scheme of right versus wrong, where we go for dinner with our spouse is not really an issue–it’s another issue entirely to compromise our ethics or our morals to make others happy or more accepting of us.

When we compromise our morals by diluting the Word of God to fit in with the culture we live in, it’s the same as putting up idols in the temple of God. Most of us don’t think of it that way. We think we’re just being nice, or we’re just being kind. If we’re really deceived, we may fall into the trap of thinking that we’re being more like Jesus by accepting others, but Jesus didn’t compromise truth. We would never consider putting up an idol in the temple of God, but we often put up idols of compromise in our own lives. We are the temple of God, and what we allow in our lives (as well as in our bodies) is important. We need to get into a more black or white form of thinking when it comes to God’s standards of right and wrong.

Father, I thank you that you are the source of truth. Thank you for the gift of discernment. I thank you that when I need to know right from wrong, I can go to you and get an accurate determination. What you say is truth, what you say is right. You are without sin. When I follow your Word and obey you, I know that I am doing what is right and true. Help me to remember that compromising your standards is the same as idolatry. I don’t want to put idols in your temple, so I need to keep idols of compromise out of my life as well. Help me to know when to stand firm in your truth. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.