Allen Jackson - Compassion, Compromise, Conflict - Part 1
The topic for this session is «Compassion, Compromise, and Conflict». I’m gonna see if we can understand those three ideas from a biblical perspective with a little bit more clarity. God is moving in the Earth in a way I’ve never seen, to be quite candid. The whole Earth is different. We talk to our friends in Israel, and they say Israel is different than it’s been in years. I’ve heard the same thing from multiple other places around the Earth, and I think here at home, we’re aware that we’re in the midst of tremendous change that’s about far more than elections.
You know, the reality of change is it’s never embraced by everyone. It never is. The American Revolution, they say that only about a third of the colonists were in favor of the revolution. Another third were supportive of the British, and another third were just gonna wait and see. So when we think about change, when Jesus came, not everybody adhered to or chose to be his follower. And so you’ve got to be conscious when you recognize that there’s great change, that there’s decisions for you to make, whether you’re going to be impacted by the change, how you’re going to be impacted, if you’re willing to be changed, it’s very important. Never, it’s never gonna be widely embraced. Therefore, there are many opinions that are expressed in seasons of change.
Lots of opinions about what’s appropriate, inappropriate, right or wrong. And decisions are often based upon, you know, what I think. That’s how I feel. And feelings are legitimate, and thoughts are certainly real, but I would submit to you, if the consequences are significant, decisions need to be based upon more than individual opinion or preference. And for those of us who consider ourselves to be Christ followers, we have a resource. The Scripture is essential when we’re navigating seasons of change. It provides guidance for us and perspective to deliver us from the tyranny of fear and the tyranny of self. Because if we don’t interrupt the momentum of our self, it will fill our lives and define our futures by what I want, what I think, and what I feel.
And that’s true even if you’re born again. And you will miss most of the purposes of God for your life if you allow that tyranny to remain in place. Thus, invitations to read your Bible. If you’re not consistently, systematically reading through your Bible, you are forfeiting the guidance of God. You don’t have to be on the plan with us, but you need that discipline. It’s remarkable, the changes that are swirling around us these days. And the multitude of opinions around it, it’s dizzying. I mean, I talk to people across our nation on a regular basis, and it just seems to be true in every walk of life, from every perspective.
You know, there are issues that are prevalent today, that are viewed differently than we have seen before. One of the current topics is illegal immigration and the people who are in our nation without proper documentation. There is a wide array of opinions around how to think about that. I’ll give you my opinion, but I believe it’s supported by Scripture. I’m gonna walk you through some biblical perspectives on why I think that’s true. And while there’s room for more than one interpretation of Scripture, I would encourage you not to formulate opinions just based on what you think. Because when you stand before the Lord, «I think» won’t carry the day. It’s what God said that will carry the day. And I understand the responsibility of that. But I, you know… whether is it compassionate? Is it kindness? How, what is the response?
We’re currently committed to a program of deporting people who are here illegally and are criminals. And there are an enormous number of people who don’t think that’s a good idea. Which is a bit intriguing to me. I’ll give you the simplest version from my vantage point, any conversation that begins with illegal means the conversation needs to be about more than kindness. If you came into this country illegally, that has to be rectified before there’s any further conversation. And I don’t believe that’s absent compassion. But there again, there’s a tremendous amount of confusion around that. If you choose another aspect of our lives, if you’re in the habit of making withdrawals from the bank illegally, I object to that. And no matter what circumstance you bring to me that follows the illegal withdrawal.
«Well, I withdrew the money illegally». That’s called stealing. Robbing a bank, probably, technically. «But I was, I made the illegal withdrawal because I had a real need». Still illegal. «I made the illegal withdrawal because I was in a health crisis». It’s still illegal. And oh, by the way, it isn’t your money. If it was your money, it’s not an illegal withdrawal, you can withdraw your money. So you’re taking something that belongs to someone else, which means you’re determining that they should forfeit something because you’re putting your need in front of theirs. Well, all of those same principles apply to the debate around immigration, and I don’t believe it’s fundamentally a political issue.
See, I believe, if the church were using its voice appropriately, we would have a great deal more moral clarity. Politicians just want votes. That’s the nature of that contract. And they are a representation of the hearts of the people. At least, in the system of government that we propose to have. And I don’t think it’s a lack of compassion. You know, and there’s all sorts of things introduced into that. If someone’s here illegally and they have a child. Well, I’ve traveled enough. I can tell you for a fact, if you’re visiting Israel with one of our tours and you have a child while you’re there, the child is not Israeli. And the church’s voice is important. We can’t afford to stand on the sidelines and say, «We don’t notice the culture. Can we have a Bible study about the first century»?
The reason that gender confusion made its way to be such an issue that we have men competing in women’s sports is for decades the church has been almost totally silent on biblical discussions of gender roles. We’re not the same. We’re not. And the Bible has some things to say about it, and then because we haven’t been willing to talk about it, and the church has looked more like the secular version of the discussion, the culture is without guidance because we haven’t been salt and light. The whole discussion around the LGBTQ2I, I don’t keep up, reflects a phenomenal silence on the part of the church.
I don’t doubt that there are people who struggle with those issues and those perspectives, in which there are some individuals with whom there’s significant confusion, but there’s a great difference in doing that and mutilating our children because there are confused people amongst us. But we confuse the discussion around language and the church just that… we’re rendered mute because, to be truthful, I don’t think it matters that much to us. And we watch our nation be looted by people who are here illegally. Looting our educational system, looting our healthcare system. And we’ll just be quiet because one way or another, some of the loot filters down to us, so we just stay quiet. And we won’t talk about the other issues because it might infringe on our ability to get our portion from the trough of the loot. And I believe that there will be a serious consequence before the Lord.
So, «Compassion, Compromise, and Conflict,» I think we start with our life objective, and this is really a biblical perspective to inform why I would say those things to you. Folks, we cannot hide from our current culture and hold up a few verses from Romans and say «I’m saved» and think we’re at peace with God. I think I can support that for you pretty simply from Scripture in a moment or two. But there is some very, very destructive thinking that has taken root in the church. And I have meetings almost every day with people that say they are counting on the church to be the difference maker in our culture on abortion. I had that meeting today. Man traveled hundreds of miles to have the conversation. Sincere man, good man, businessman, highly trained person. And he said, «The church will make the difference».
And the reality is, the statistics say there’s almost no difference between the church and the secular culture on the issue. Almost 70% of Americans are okay with abortion. Say, «Well, you know, not after 12 weeks». Ninety-six percent of abortions take place in those first twelve weeks. And we just hide from it. And now we have these conversations, we have to say, «Well, you know, in reality, the church doesn’t act like the church». Because we’re not really committed to discipleship, we’ve embraced the gospel of salvation, and if we’re saved, we just ignore the counsel of Scripture. And we get confused, or we muddy our language, «Compassion, Compromise, and Conflict».
I think our objective in life, Ecclesiastes 12, is pretty straightforward. This is from the perspective of King Solomon. «Now all has been heard; here’s the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil». So if you just want a little pocket summary of the assignment for your journey under the sun, fear God and keep his commandments. Everything else is subordinated to that. Why would you do that? Because God is gonna bring every deed into evaluation. He’s going to evaluate every deed, not arbitrarily. Not on a whim, not based on what I think or I feel. Based on the counsel of his Word and his character.
Hebrews 4 gives us a slightly different perspective, but it adds tremendous value to the Word of God in our lives. It said, «The word of God is living and active». It’s a living thing, «Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to the dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account». There’s that reminder again. We are going to give an account for how we live our lives. That’s our motivation for the fear of God.
You think, well, I’m never gonna be… oh, you will be, and you can’t blame the pastor. It may be true, I was inadequate and too often inept, but it will not be an adequate excuse when you stand before the Lord. Or your parenting. Or the evil in other people or the hatred in the world. All the things we bring forth to excuse our ungodliness. God’s Word helps us to decipher the indecipherable. Scripture establishes for us authority, priorities, it identifies the best pathways for living. We don’t always like it. The Scripture brings discipline to our lives. It’s hard sometimes to distinguish the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. We are able to excuse, to self-justify. We all have phenomenal abilities at that. And I need the Word of God to help to separate out those things that would diminish what God would do in me. And so do you.
So our objective is to lead lives that reverence God, that fear God, and to keep his commandments, and to do that, we’re gonna need the Word of God. Let’s look at these words a little bit more. We’ll start with the happy end, compassion, mercy, and grace. 2 Corinthians 1:3. «Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God».
Now I think we often use those words interchangeably, and in reality they’re different. And if you use them in a sloppy way, you’re more easily manipulated. Just a good working definition of compassion is it’s a response to someone’s suffering. Typically motivated by a desire or an intent to relieve the discomfort or the suffering. A response to someone suffering with the intent of relieving it, trying to alleviate, to be of assistance. So go back to the verse. It says, «God is the Father of compassion». And the God of all comfort. God is the ultimate expression of the willingness to alleviate suffering. He sent his Son. So when you say, «I have compassion on someone,» the next sentence should be an expression of how that’s going to be given expression.
There’s many places in the New Testament, I spared you the study. It would, maybe another time, where Jesus talks about the compassion Jesus directed towards crowds, individuals, circumstances. And in all of those instances, there’s a response from him to alleviate the discomfort, the suffering. He looks at a group of people that have been with him three days and they’ve run out of food, and he said, «I have compassion on these people. Let’s feed them». You didn’t just say, «Oh, it’s too bad, they’re kind of hungry. Let’s talk about fasting». Compassion. Let’s consider that in light of mercy. Mercy is a bit different.
In Micah chapter 7 and verse 18, he said, «Who is a God like you who pardons sin and forgives the transgressions of the remnant of his inheritance»? Micah is talking, he’s a prophet, he’s talking to the people about God restoring the Jewish people back to the land after the exile. So the remnant of the people who survived, he said, God has forgiven their transgressions. «You don’t stay angry forever and you delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea».
God didn’t always show them compassion, sometimes he showed them discipline. They had to leave their country, they lost their homes. They lived as slaves in a foreign land for decades. But Micah said, «You won’t stay angry forever because you delight to show mercy». Well, mercy is a little different than compassion. Mercy is very closely aligned with forgiveness. Mercy is when punishment is withheld, punishment that is deserved. I’m not going to extend the discipline, the punishment that is deserved. I’m going to give you mercy. That’s different than compassion. And then in Hebrews chapter 4 we pick up grace. We’re given this amazing invitation. «Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we can receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need».
The presentation of Jesus, our great High Priest, seated on a throne of grace. The grace is the unearned, undeserved blessing, favor of God. Grace is not merit-based. If it’s merit-based, it isn’t grace. So grace isn’t about your rewards. Grace is something different, but it says we can approach Jesus on his throne because it’s a throne of grace. We don’t come before his throne because we deserve to be there. We’ve been invited there. That pathway has been opened for us by a new and living way through the curtain, through the shed blood of Jesus, not because of something we have done. The words here are very interesting to me if you’ll just hold the definitions we’ve been processing, «So that we may receive mercy».
Remember, mercy is very much like forgiveness. You have to receive that. It’s something that’s extended to you. It’s not a right. You can’t demand mercy. It’s a gift that is to be received. And then it says, «We find grace to help us». Grace is discovered. You realize, you come to the awareness that God has given you something that you didn’t earn, that you didn’t deserve. As long as we’re trapped in a perspective of entitlement and what I deserve and what I have a right to, you forfeit the grace of God. We deserve judgment. We deserve banishment from the presence of God. I don’t want what I deserve. I don’t want justice. I want mercy. We receive mercy, we find grace. The discovery of the gifts, the provision, the kindness of God.
As you walk with the Lord, you discover his grace. Most of us, when we become Christ followers, we think God kind of got a bargain. Remember that? They go: Well, you know, if I raise my hand and tell the Lord I’m gonna help him. Five-star recruit coming in. Then somewhere along the way, you realize that God took on a tremendous liability. That only by his grace is there a way for us to add value to his initiatives in the Earth. I would submit to you that it isn’t kind. I don’t even think it’s compassionate to create a system that causes people to begin their relationship with you by doing something illegal. You wouldn’t be a good coworker. You wouldn’t be a good parent. You wouldn’t be a good neighbor. You wouldn’t be a good driver’s ed instructor. And you’re certainly not a good Christ follower, nor a good citizen if you craft a system that forces people to begin a relationship with something that demands being illegal.
Look at Hebrews 5 with me. I won’t take a minute. There’s a phrase in here that I want to call your attention to. It says, «Every high priest is», discussing the difference between the high priest that preceded Jesus and the high priestly role of Jesus. Did you know that Jesus is your High Priest? Up until Jesus, you couldn’t just offer your prayers to the Lord or your sacrifices to the Lord. You had to take 'em to the priest because the priests represent people to God. But Jesus was appointed as our High Priest. He takes our prayers before the Father. He takes our prayers based on the sacrifice he made. That’s an amazing thing. It gives us standing. It gives us the ability to approach that throne.
Well, it’s this discussion in Hebrews 5, «Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins». The high priest is, «Able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. That is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as for the sins of the people». It’s a discussion of the priestly role, the high priestly role. But look at that phrase, «The high priest is appointed by God to represent people in matters related to God».
I want to be certain that we each understand there are matters in your life, matters in my life, that are related to God, that have to be addressed. You could say, «I don’t believe that, it isn’t relevant». That’s like saying «I don’t believe in gravity». You don’t have to believe in it. It believes in you. There are matters about your life, your journey, your existence that relate to God that have to be addressed.
Now God has given us the guidelines. He’s given us a perspective. We’re not alone, we’re not isolated, but we’ve got to be prepared to address those matters. «So I don’t believe like that,» well, you’re certainly entitled to that choice. God has given us each a free will. But the Scripture has given us more insight than that. Matters that relate to God. God is not just a God of mercy. He’s not just a God of grace. He’s not just a God of compassion. He’s also a God of justice. We’ve had a very lopsided presentation of the Gospel. If you talk about Jesus being, his only message being love, you ignore an enormous part of the messaging that Jesus brought.
There’s a lot of fear in the church these days because we recognize intuitively, if we haven’t recognized it consciously, that the world has changed. The way we practiced our faith two or three years ago isn’t sufficient for what’s before us right now. Don’t be frightened by that. Ask the Lord to give you an understanding heart. We’ve got to learn to see in some new ways, so we can respond with boldness and courage. Let’s pray.
Father, I pray you’ll give us new courage, new eyes to see, new understanding hearts, that we may respond with great faith to what you’re doing in the Earth. I thank you for it, in Jesus’s name. Amen.
