A Lesson in Compromise
Acts 21:28
"Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place."
Paul could never be accused of not having a desire to reach the lost for Christ. The mistake that Paul made was in thinking if he compromised in one area that those who stood against him would listen and get saved. Because of this thought, Paul and the men who were with him, took a Jewish oath, thus justifying the people's observance of living by the law. The problem with this is that Jesus death, burial and resurrection did away with this observance. However, we can see from the verse above that his compromise did not pay off for the same people he compromised for were the one's who eventually stood against him when he was tried in court.
Compromise never works! Far too often Christians think that if they compromise in one area that the world will accept them. Let me make this very clear to you, the world will never accept you as a Christian. Though the world may ask you to take a step towards them, they will never come towards you. The only thing they want is for you to come completely over to where they stand, thus voiding what you currently believe. You must always understand that the world is never interested in coming your way, they are only interested in keeping their power.
Christian, you must always keep in mind that compromising for the sake of reaching more people for Christ is always wrong. If doing right does not give results, then continue doing right. We have to remember that results are up to God. 1 Corinthians 3:7 says, "So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase." Notice that the results is God's area. When we compromise for the sake of getting greater results, then we are trying to help God out. God doesn't need your help, for He can do His part just fine without you. You need to stay focused on standing for truth, spreading it, and leave the results up to God, even if the results are not what you think they should be.
Furthermore, whenever you compromise you always bring others down with you. Acts 21:26 says, "Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple,..." You can see that Paul caused four other people to compromise what was right. Whenever you compromise you never will do it alone. You always bring others down with you when you compromise. The sad part is that you may come back to where you are supposed to be, but rarely will those who compromise with you come back. Compromise is never worth it because you will lose your influence on those who compromise with you.
Christian, you need to determine that you will never compromise. You need to let this lesson on compromise from the life of the Apostle Paul sink into your heart and teach you that you never win when you compromise. Stand firm in the areas in which God tells you to stand. If nobody gets saved because of your stance, then that is God's business. Always determine to rightly do right.