Disclaimer: if you're not either an active or passive Christian please don't read this blog, because this is a message for Christians and I don't want to get nonChristians confused or offend as to what I'm talking about.
I'm not saying you're dumb!!!! I'm just saying that I don't want to offend you, in case you might not entirely understand what I'm trying to say.
"It's only one time getting drunk, I'm in college, I just want to have fun!"
"I just know that God brought us together, so I think we should sleep together tonight. It's seriously not a big deal, we're just sleeping- not having sex! But maybe we just shouldn't tell anyone regardless..."
"Swearing? Really? Who cares! People swear all the time, Christians included!"
"It's okay self, it's just porn. No one will even know. Seriously."
"Dude it's just hookah, Christian's know how to have fun too!"
"It's only a blow job...seriously, it's not even sex."
Tell me the point of bearing the name of Jesus Christ if all we do is compromise?
As Christians, we want people to look at us and see the Holy Spirit, not a mirror imagine of the onlooker. I am so tired of Christians trying to appear cool or relevant to their nonChristian friends by compromising Truth.
My friend Todd once told me and several other people that were arguing once that "As Christians, we are called to live above reproach"...meaning this: If people on the street heard that you were going over to "sleep with our bf/gf", what's the first thing that comes to their mind? Of course it's sex. And of course you could try and convince them that you weren't actually going to have sex, but I believe you'll be hard pressed to find someone that thinks you wouldn't be doing everything aside from "actual" sex then. Living above reproach means that you will try to not give people that foothold over you, and attempt to display Christ (ie, not your own desires) in all facets of your life.
Why do Christians decide to be the sheep that they're trying to shepherd? My new harp for this/perfect example is hookah smoking.
(those two articles, one link with each different word, are 2 of thousands that exists saying that hookah is just as bad, if not actually worse than ciggerates. god forbid that people actually take their time to do their own research before believing the "word on the street")
"Oh yeah, it's not nearly as bad as cigarettes. At ALL" I can not count on both hands how many Christians have told me that in attempt to justify their compromise. Do they even BOTHER to do the research though? Of course they don't. Of COURSE they don't. It seems that when Christians get in these compromising states, they tend to follow the loudest, most confident, and usually the dumbest sheep.
I knew a (Christian) girl once who told me how disgusting she thought hookah smoking was, and how it's just a lame excuse for other Christians to try and be relatable and cool.
Ironically enough though, this same girl, getting involved with a new group of Christians, now smokes hookah on a fairly regular basis (or at least, a lot more than not doing it at all).
Isn't it fantastic and terrible how much people change to blend in with their surroundings?
When people ask questions about myself, in regards to what religion I am, I generally respond with "active Christian". Because each day I am trying to get rid of my vices that hold me back from Jesus Christ, and that hold me back from showing Himself in my life.
And so hopefully, when people such as those who have accepted Christ but don't bother to challenge, better, or overall attempt to live a life of no compromise (according to the Bible) can respond with "passive Christian. I am saved, I love God, but I love pleasing myself and being accepted by others more".
....It only would make sense.
Now please don't be a five year old think just because I picked out hookah smoking; that I think it's the worst thing ever, and hate everyone who's associated with it. OF COURSE I DON'T. I used to do it when I was a senior in high school because I wanted to be cool, hip, and relatable too!
I am using hookah smoking as just one of hundreds of possible examples that we as Christians bend the moral bar ever so slightly so that we appear cooler, relatable, hip, fun, etcetc to people who are not Christians.
And if you think as I think "Man, Chad is calling out all these Christians in these blogs and not even talking about how messed up he is, and I bet he's got a big ol' plank in his eye" you honestly could not be further from the truth. The reason I notice these things about Christianity is because I have been there, and I still struggle with them. But you best believe though that I'm still going to try to light a fire under myself and every Christian who actually believes in living a life of no compromise. Not to mention the list I comprised above of typical Christian compromising (that I've encountered), is a list I (for the most part) pulled from my own life.
So now you have to ask yourself:
So what would your Jesus compromise to feel better about himself?
