Compromise
by Wilhelm Ya'acov Wolfaardt
"FOR WHOEVER DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER IN HEAVEN IS MY BROTHER AND SISTER AND MOTHER." Mattithyahu (Matthew) 12:50
These were the words Yahushua spoke when His taught ones came to Him saying, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You." But Yahushua then replied asking, "Who is my mother and who are My brothers?" Yahushua then stretched out His hand over His taught ones and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother."
What do these words of Yahushua imply? Does it mean that we must now reject and deny our mother, father, brothers and sisters who do not do the will of our Father YHWH? Certainly not! Every fellow believer and born again brother and sister in the True Faith will, if they truly love Yahushua with an undivided heart, know that Yahushua meant with these words that an elderly sister in Yahushua will be like an own mother, and an elderly brother in Yahushua will be like an own father. So will a brother and sister be like an own brother and sister. In fact, these that are in the faith, will be more of a brother, sister, mother and father, than those of your own flesh.
These words of Yahushua can be tested in practice. Go and ask your brother in the flesh, not loving Yahushua, to borrow you money. Your chances are better to borrow money from your brother in the faith. These words Yahushua spoke regarding brother- and motherhood, could cause us severe problems in our daily living. The most severe of these problems is the possibility of compromise. In our walk with Yahushua, and our relationship with our families and "friends", we could be challenged by circumstances to compromise. These obstacles are inevitable.
Let me show a few examples. During the week your father phones you and invites you to come over on "Saturday" afternoon for a braai. All the family will be there. Will you attend? You could reason many ways. You could say to yourself that they will kindle the fire, and that they will prepare the food for the braai. You will not participate in the actual work. No matter how you reason, you will compromise. If you participate in the eating of that food prepared on the Shabbat, you are no different from somebody who eats at a restaurant, thus trading and letting other people work for you on the Shabbat. Scripture says about the Shabbat, "...but the seventh day is the Shabbat of YHWH your Elohim. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates." 2 Mosheh (Exodus) 20:10. If you want to compromise, you could reason that those who invited you for a braai are not your servants. I ask the question, is this different from asking your own servant in your own home to cook you a meal on Shabbat. Is Shabbat not a day unto YHWH, in which we should delight, as spoken by the prophet Yeshayahu, "If you turn away your foot from the Shabbat, from doing your pleasure on My set apart day, and call the Shabbat a delight, the set apart day of YHWH esteemed, and shall esteem it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in YHWH; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of YHWH has spoken." Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 58:13,14.There are so many blessings installed for us if we do not make compromise. It is worth serving YHWH with an undivided heart.
It is not worth compromising the true faith for the sake of father or mother or brother or sister. Yahushua said, "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My Name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life." Mattithyahu (Matthew) 19:29. Why will it be necessary to leave brothers or sisters or your mother or father? If you serve YHWH with all your heart, not making compromises for the sake of the family, you might loose acceptance as part of the family, and they might no longer be your father and mother and brother and sister.
This does not mean that you should not behave toward your father and mother as required by Scripture. Read 2 Mosheh (Exodus) 20:12.
If we serve YHWH, there is no room for compromise. Shabbat is a day set apart unto YHWH. It is a day to be spent in the presence of YHWH. The people of Judah forgot YHWH because of compromise. They started treading wine presses on Shabbat, and started trading on the Shabbat. Shabbat was no longer a pleasure to them. YHWH had to act very strongly. He instructed the nobles of Judah to close the gates of Jerusalem on the Shabbat, so that no man could enter the city to trade on the Shabbat. Read about this in Nehemyah (Nehemiah) 13.
If we do not meet with other fellow believers in Yahushua on the Shabbat, we will also stop having pleasure in the Shabbat. The Shabbat will become to us like any other day. It is inevitable that we will then compromise by doing things on the Shabbat that is not pleasing unto YHWH. YHWH will then withdraw His blessings from us, and we will then become like the people of the world - people without Yahushua in their hearts.
Do yourself a favour - forget about compromise, and if you are not sure whether you are making compromise, consult with a fellow brother or sister. The "friendship" with your earthly brothers, sisters, father or mother, is not worth compromise; is not worth the risk of loosing eternal life!