Holy Compromise, Holy Joy

Mark 2:1-5 (3) "And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men."

The word "compromise" is a red flag among people of principle. But in the real world of human relationships, compromise is perhaps the most overlooked source of genuine joy.

The fact is (1) bringing people to Jesus is just about always a cooperative effort. In fact, doing anything for Jesus means cooperating with His people. And (2) cooperative effort just about always involves holy compromise. But the strange and wonderful truth that follows is (3) holy compromise just about always brings about holy fellowship and joy.

No minister of integrity would ever suggest that we compromise with any form of sin. But by the same token any minister of integrity would have to say in all honesty that more pain and damage has been done than one can imagine by people who not only refuse to compromise on issues of principle, but refuse to bend or adapt or compromise in lesser matters of opinion, custom, or even personal taste.

Here in Mark's gospel is a newspaper report about some people who tore the tiles off a flat roof and lowered a paralyzed man down into the interior of the house where Jesus was. [Bringing people to Jesus is just about always a cooperative effort.] It goes without saying that here was a cooperative effort that required some compromise. Unless these four men were all the same build and same height and same strength the simple fact of carrying a heavy, inert object requires bending and stretching. But in my mind's eye I have gone into considerable more detail. If some of the personalities of the Wollaston church had been present the line-up might have looked like this [and any resemblance to Wollastonians living or dead is purely conjectural]!

FIRST THERE WAS AMOS.

Amos was a rather old, seasoned believer. He had been brought up in the scriptures from a lad. He had waited for years in faith that Messiah was coming. Early on in Jesus' ministry he had been convinced that Jesus was the fulfillment of all the OT prophecies.

Amos is MATURE! Secretly in his heart of hearts he is a little impatient and even irked by immaturity. He detests taped accompaniments! He is not the least impulsive and not too outwardly emotional. But Amos is the salt of the earth, and he loves Jesus and follows Him with all his heart.

THEN THERE IS BARTHOLOMEW.

Bartholomew is a young believer, full of energy. He is not a rebel, really— but he really has this feeling that anyone over 30 is "over the hill." Bartholomew is full of JOY!

And Bartholomew is full of LIFE! He has never had a sick day in his life, and frankly he isn't too patient with people who have aches and pains. He doesn't understand people who don't like LOUD hosannas—preferably with at least 100 watts of amplification behind them. Bart will be at all the Christian rock concerts within 50 miles radius!

THE THIRD MEMBER OF THE CAST IS CRISPUS.

Crispus is an intellectual, and a dedicated social activist. He has heard Christ's call to minister to the poor. He has put his life on the line. He has sold all that he possesses, and is personally involved in inner-city ministry. And quite frankly, Crispus questions other Christians who don't do the same as he has done.

AND THE LAST OF THE FOUR IS DEMAS

Demas is a died-in-the-wool conservative. Demas wears a Jesus-First pin. He is a real "Mary" type who simply wants to sit at Jesus' feet. He only has a job because he has to eat, but he wants to keep unspotted from the world— so he doesn't use dice with board games, and he doesn't think the church teens ought to go roller skating.

But he really belongs to Jesus and loves Him with all of his heart.

Four people about as different in temperament as you can imagine. Four people who agree on just about one thing and only one thing— at least at the beginning of this little drama. They knew in their hearts that Jesus IS the answer to the needs of the world. No matter that they saw those needs very differently. They didn't even stop to consider that the needs of the world might be different from the way they understood them. But they agreed (without knowing it) that Jesus is what this sinful world needs!

These people had a great deal more that was NOT in common, at least on the surface. They would have disagreed violently on political candidates. They would have almost come to blows over whether or not one could fall from grace, or just 'from fellowship with God.' Any kind of abstract or theoretical question probably would have started WW I 1900 years early!