"Better bend than break!" is an old Scottish proverb. "People talk about the middle of the road as though it were unacceptable. Actually all human problems, excepting morals, come into the gray areas. Things are not all black and white. There have to be compromises. The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters." Dwight Eisenhower. "All government, indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue, and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter." Edmund Burke
" " Compromise is but the sacrifice of one's right of good in the hope of retaining another - too often ending in the loss of them both." Tyron Edwards" "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last." Winston Churchill. "Compromise is never anything but an ignoble truce between the duty of a man and the terror of a coward." Reginald Kauffman "It is the weak man who urges compromise, never the strong man." Elbert Hubbard "Life cannot subsist in society but by reciprocal concessions" Samuel Johnson. "Real life is, to most men, a long second-best, a perpetual compromise between the ideal and the possible; but the world of pure reason knows no compromise, no practical limitations, no barrier to the creative activity." Bertrand Russell "From the beginning of our history the country has been afflicted with compromise. It is by compromise that human rights have been abandoned." Charles Sumner "He that complies against his will is of his own opinion still." Samuel Butler "When private virtue is hazarded on the perilous cast of expediency, the pillars of the republic, however apparent their stability, are infected with decay at the very center." Edwin Chapin
"How do we examine all of these wise sayings and determine how to put them into practice in our lives? They seem to contradict one another. Christians are in a spiritual war with evil. The battleground is our everyday lives. We live in a world in which Satan is god (2 Cor. 4:4). The world, though, is not only evil continually, it is a mixture of good and evil. Just as the world contains good people and bad people and they are somewhat mixed - God's people are to be the salt and the light to this world. Clearly the only definition of "good" is as God defines it, but even in Eden, God stated that everything He had made was "very good" (Gen. 1:31). We do function among all sorts of people and many of them have strong beliefs or concepts that we cannot accept. Knowing what God expects of us is invaluable.
"Jesus Christ walked among unconverted people and gave them hope. Daniel survived decades of work among the pagan high officials of Babylon. There were times when Daniel "bent," it seems, but there were limits to that bending. When it came to moral standards or God's law, there was simply no bending. But we walk in a world of idols and sinful conduct. Then again, so did Daniel and so did Jesus Christ. Paul entered Rome - the city of sin in his day. How could he walk in places that reeked of evil? He walked down the main street of Athens and then respectfully addressed the pagans about one of their pagan temples (Acts 17:23). That temple to "the unknown god" was not less evil than the rest. All were evil, but it did not deter or frighten Paul. He used the words "unknown god" to address the crowds. He met them on grounds they understood and then told of the true God. There was no compromise to Paul's words or in his actions.
"When we examine the life of Paul, though, we do see moments of compromise. These were moments that did not involve the compromise of his morals and beliefs. He said that to the Jew he became a Jew and to the Gentile he became a Gentile and to those without (outside of the law) as one without law - but not without law to God (I Cor. 9:20-23). He went to the temple in Jerusalem at the request of the elders there, though he knew it was not required or him (Acts 21:22-24). Paul had Timothy circumcised in order to further the gospel - that too had nothing to do with sin, but for the sake of expedience (Acts 16:3).
"Let us examine the opening quotes once again. Those that promote compromise do not speak of religion or morals and beliefs. They speak about things of government, customs that did not reflect idolatry or sin, things within a society and so on. Even Peter acted like a Gentile when he was with them (Gal. 2:12-14). When it comes to virtues, morals, duty, ideals or human rights, things of the will or bending to threats, the tone of the quotes changes. There is no compromise in those areas. Threats are hurled at God's people because this world, led by the influence and mind of Satan, hates that which is good. It hated Jesus Christ and it hates His followers (John 15:18).
"Let us understand, though, that we can become hard and stubborn in areas that only bring difficulties that need not plague us. We can be part of a society in areas that do not compound evil. God's chosen men have always done that. Joseph was sent to Egypt where he gained such favour from the Pharaoh that he virtually became second in command. He dressed and looked like an Egyptian to the extent that his own brothers could not recognize him (Gen. 44:1-4). Daniel learned how to address the kings he served in a way that showed respect, dignity and servitude - but he never compromised his faith and belief in God (Dan. 2:36-38,6:4,5) The tale of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego who had been appointed to high positions in the pagan government of Nebuchadnezzar is told in the book of Daniel. Though they had gained positions and favour, they never compromised their faith and beliefs (Dan. 3:12). The stories of Moses, David, Samuel and a long list of others show us that God blesses those who use wisdom as they walk among the people of this world in which He has set them there as lights and as the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13).. That is one of the reasons God's children are to remain in this world (John 17:15,18). Salt is not dumped on one pile when flavouring a meal. Jesus prayed not that we should be taken out of this world, but that we would be protected from Satan. That is the enemy - the real enemy of all mankind.
"Using wisdom and careful thought, we ought to be able to understand that in some circumstances, we can bend, we can yield, we can come to agreements and we can compromise. But in circumstances where we are called upon to sin and to bend the laws of God, we need to be hard as flint, willing to shed blood to obey God and be willing to lay down our lives rather than break His commandments and sin (Heb. 12:4). Humans who do not have strong principles to live by - who are not willing to suffer and even die for their beliefs, do not have strong beliefs and faith. God does expect us to use wisdom in all our dealings. Once we have acted in a godly manner, then we are blessed for suffering the consequences (I Pet. 3:14). Study the people of the Bible and see how they reacted to real life. Then go and do likewise. Never compromise with sin, but never stop loving this world (John 3:16). God has created us with minds that need to be trained and developed. Some are extreme and needlessly strict because they lack understanding. Jesus was concerned about strictness of the Pharisees (Matt. 23:25), but He also magnified the law (Matt. 5:22). We need to understand sin as God defines it, not by our understanding. The exercise God gives us is the road to character, development of virtues and then as we grow toward the example Jesus Christ set with God's help, one day we will be granted "His nature" (2 Peter 1:4). Learn when to bend and when to stand firm.