Courage and Conviction
I have been thinking a lot lately about the possibility that I’m compromising my faith while not even being aware of it. There are so many things in this world that seem to be fine until you dig beneath the surface and see what’s behind the scenes.
I have not been a fan of unions since my brother formed a small construction company back in the seventies and was confronted in some not so friendly ways. I have been further turned off by what has come out of the National Education Association with regard to how they spend their money and what they support politically. My guess is that your average teacher doesn’t even know where his dues are going.
Recently I was in a conversation with a Christian who was talking about the benefits of another union job. Her parting comment was that she hated the politics but loved the benefits. But the problem is even deeper than this. I know another person who sees it as a blessing to have a job that pays under the table. Can illegal work be a blessing? Is this just how the Christian phrases it to pretend that it’s all okay with God?
I am beginning to really see how we compromise our Christianity when we like the benefits. We quietly dislike the politics rather than risk losing a job or giving up a position that would take away something we are gaining by the compromise. The truth is we’re even forced now to give money to a government in our taxes who spends it on things that grieve God – like abortion.
In our jobs we fudge the numbers because we’re told to, we don’t speak up when people bash Christianity (if they can talk against it can’t we speak up for it?), we slack off the work ethic because our co-workers don’t like it when we work hard, or we use language or go places so we fit into the world around us.
In our schools we don’t speak against curriculum that we know is not teaching Biblical values. When our daughter was in the 5th grade the school sent home a letter that said they were introducing a new curriculum and each parent was being offered an opportunity to preview it. That was unheard of and so we thought we’d better take a look. This new teaching started with the premise that our children would all lose their virginity by the time they were 13 so it was time to teach them about sex, STDs, and “alternative life styles”.
We pulled our daughter out but we were the only ones to even preview the materials. Many Christian parents left their children in there so they wouldn’t be different than their peers. Now that I think about it we weren’t even Christians then and the teaching horrified us. Just for the record our daughter has not been permanently scarred by this experience.
On issues like abortion many of us sit back and let the more radical Christian do the work. We talk about it openly in our churches and with our Christian friends but most Christians are pretty quiet about it with non-Christians. I am personally guilty on this one. Abortion horrifies me but I have done nothing to stop it except to pray – and even then it’s not every day.
Many people in our nation need financial help. They are poor and hungry as a result of circumstances beyond their control. But, this country provides “assistance” to many people who are capable of work – and many are even trained or skilled for work. They like the government handout, they don’t want to work. 2 Thessalonians says that if we don’t work then we should not eat. Christians remain silent – some are even collecting like this. Most recently this is in unemployment benefits to many who are not looking for work.
Luke 16:10 says, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.”
Each area of our lives where we compromise seems small and maybe even insignificant in the whole scheme of things. We justify our actions at work because we need the paycheck. We justify the compromise with our children so they will be accepted. We don’t speak out against abortion in public because we just don’t want the fight or are afraid we can’t give a good enough argument. People will think we’re radical Christians. (Isn’t that what we should be?)
Isn’t it dishonest for a child of God to call themselves that, defend their position within the walls of the church or their home, and not act on their convictions in the more public arenas? If we add up all the little things we are dishonest in much.
I fear that we are choosing peace with the world, looking for acceptance, over peace with God and looking for His acceptance that results in blessing. We are not being faithful to God or to His Word in every area of our lives. We’ll freely talk about it in Sunday School class and with our Christian friends but we are too quiet in public.
I am as guilty as the next guy…may God forgive me and grant us all the courage of our convictions. Or should I say, courage and convictions?