Question: Help me address the seemingly Biblical conundrum around COMPROMISE. Often, unyielding positions can create a chasm in terms of spreading the gospel – in other words, make it difficult to reach many. Is every verse and/or understanding black or white? Of course not…so how should we deal with potential trip wires.
Example 1: On one hand, Jeremiah 1:5 could lay the grounds for abortion being murder at any point, given Gods foreknowledge. (Or, could this verse be specific to just the prophet?)
Now we know that God cannot be confounded in reaching his chosen however, as humans where can/should compromises be worked out to most effectively present the gospel.
Related to this example, some well meaning, Biblically educated Christians vary on their position of when life begins, with such having a huge effect on “murder” and it’s application in abortion discussions.
Abortion is just an example of the idea of Biblical compromise, particularly relating to “making disciples”…what do you see God intending in the use of compromise?
Btw, other than Jeremiah 1:5, what DOES the Bible teach regarding in beginning of life…conception? Probable viability outside the womb?…
Understanding that God may intend to send the next Einstein via a rape or incest, in the case of abortion, could He not simply adjust the delivery to another?
Example 2: Euthanasia, which I can imagine being an even bigger argument than abortion. What does the Bible teach regarding one’s right to end suffering? Do you see a coming collision between euthanasia and economic cost rationalizations?
What, if any, place does compromise have in Biblical matters of faith?
Answer: As I see it, there are four parts to this difficult question. 1) Do we need to soften the gospel by compromising it to make it more attractive? 2) Is everything in the Bible black or white? 3) When does life begin according to the Bible? 4) Could euthanasia ever be justified for economic reasons or any other reason?
1) The gospel is the “good news” concerning who Jesus is and what he did. He is the Son of God, the God/man who came to earth to live a perfect life in our place and He died a death that we deserve to die. He became our substitute in living the perfect life and dying a horrible death that we deserve. By placing our trust in Jesus and what He did for us, not in our own good works, we are born again, regenerated, adopted into God’s family and will spend eternity in heaven with God. Those are the facts of the gospel and we cannot compromise the facts. But we can present the facts of the gospel in a loving manner or in a harsh manner. the Apostle Paul says, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:5).
It takes both truth and love to share the gospel and to make disciples. Tim Keller stated, “Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it.” Therefore, we should never compromise the truth or the love for the other person.
2) The Bible deals with black and white issues. That is, the Bible presents the truth and nothing but the truth. God either created the world or He did not. There was a man and woman named Adam and Eve or there was not. The world was created in 6 days or it was not. There was a world-wide flood or there was not. Jesus came to earth as a baby to save mankind or He did not. He died for our sins or He did not. He was resurrected from the dead or He was not. Etc., etc, etc. Either God’s Word is absolute truth intended for us to follow and obey or He has played a terrible cosmic joke on us. Adam and Eve tried to compromise God’s Word with Satan and we are still experiencing the results of their awful attempt to compromise. Trying to compromise God’s Word qualifies us to be guilty of what Jesus accused the Laodicea church of doing, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot or cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15-16).
3) The Bible does not explicitly tell us when life begins but it does implicitly tell us clearly that is occurs at conception. “For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well” (Psalm 119:13-14). “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). Therefore, aborting a baby, from God’s perspective would be murder. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in His own image” (Genesis 9:6).
4) We’ve all watched people suffer and die a long and agonizing death and often the suffering person would rather die than to go on suffering. Even though euthanasia can be understood, God does not give us that option. Only God controls when we come into his world and when we will leave it. We don’t understand it and sometimes we don’t like it, but He is God and we are not. We can know that His timing is perfect and that He has a purpose in everything that He does. He never tells us why He allows a person to live when he or she wants to die but we can claim a wonderful promise from His Word. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).