Resistance to Compromise

To define resistance to compromise on only the narrow basis of our personally-revealed standards of spiritual conduct is to leave unaddressed a great number of important and crucial issues. For none of us liveth only to himself, and how we accept or reject each other, approve or disapprove each other, and admonish or praise each other—all of these and more have a great deal to do with our lives and who we are and what we are and where we stand.

This same brother we mentioned above used to reply to me when pressed on these points, “You are asking me questions which I have been asking myself all my life.” His tone and demeanor would communicate that he had never found satisfactory answers to those questions, and wondered if he ever would. This attitude makes the triumph of apostasy inevitable.

Others define resistance to compromise strictly in terms of outward standards. They abhor that bazaar of Mr. Love-the-World. Of this, Sister Jarvis speaks in A True Story in Allegory:

Mr. Love-the-World, foreseeing what would happen, had built his booths just at the edge of an innocent-looking picnic ground. There was one called Sociability booth. In this place was to be had, free of charge, all manner of gossip and evil speaking, jokes and plays, in fact, about anything on the social line except hymns, spiritual songs, holy conversation, and godliness. Then came the booth for wearing apparel—fashions, freaks, and fancies—and some substitutes, such as those who did not want to bear the reproach of being very worldly could wear, and still not be reproached for being old-fashioned or peculiar. Then he had one booth for worldly honors. In it were all manner of certificates, medals, and medallions for those who would lay aside their narrow-mindedness, so that they might with their whole heart seek for his honors. Then he had a booth for the exhibition of all manner of religions for those who were not inclined to buy his other wares.

[Lottie L. Jarvis; A True Story in Allegory, “The Success of Mr. Love-the-World’s Bazaar”]

The classic pattern of an apostasy is this: the majority of the people began to compromise, gradually being led to lower spiritual standards by following the spirit of compromise. And a minority of the people detect the drift and began to resist the outward changes. This begins a conflict which absorbs the attention and energies of nearly all. But the conflict over outward standards masks a far more insidious attack on the internal values and positions from which the outward values are derived. For the enemy seeks to overthrow a righteous people both outwardly and inwardly, both on the surface and right at the heart of things.

Quoting again from A True Story in Allegory:

Mr. Policy thereupon was given the freedom of the pulpit. Now he, like his father, Beelzebub, was very expert at twisting scriptures. His first sermon was, “That your faith may stand in the wisdom of men” [compare 1 Corinthians 2:4-5]. He showed how many of the customs of the faithful ones were neither according to the wisdom of men, nor common sense. Then in his witty way he held up some of their peculiar views to great ridicule, saying, “Where is your scripture for this? See, you are doing this, and have given up that for no reason whatever.” Many, quite forgetting that the Word cannot be understood properly except by the Spirit, began to consider it from a human standpoint and were thus persuaded by him.

[Lottie L. Jarvis; A True Story in Allegory, “Visit to the Great Camp”]

To reiterate, only the Holy Spirit can truly guide us into truth. To try to follow the truth from only human understanding will inevitably cause us to go astray. “Had I the choosing of my pathway, / In blindness I should go astray,”* said the poet; and he is right—no matter how hard or sincerely I might try. Only in actually being guided and led by the Holy Spirit himself is there safety.

One of the main objectives in an apostasy is to get us to be led by something else than the Holy Spirit. To apply the very best of the collective wisdom of the wisest of the group. Here is where a lack of carefully rendering all praise and appreciation of true worth to God will ensnare a people. The honor which rightfully belongs to God (the merit, the goodness, proceeded from Him alone) will become regarded as being a property of the group.

Leaning to human understanding also opens the way to change of spiritual standards. These standards are not very well adaptive to fleshly human thought anyway, for that is not their purpose. God’s ways are higher than our ways. He changes us to fit the standards of His Word, not the other way around.

To put this another way, humanity without the grace of God is very uncomfortable with spiritual standards. And it appears reasonable to dear souls in this condition to tamper with them.

But there is a certain kind of humanity which values the outward standards of spirituality without discerning the inward standards behind these things. Of the Pharisees, our Lord said, “ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith…. cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also…. for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward.”* (Matthew 23:23,26,27)

Now as these three maidens were feeling their way up the mountain side, they had come upon a cave at the mouth of which sat a man in the garb of the Shepherds. Then they inquired of him the way to the place where the trumpet was being sounded. He then told them that he had been stationed at that place for the express purpose of entertaining inquirers and helping them on their way to the heights. Then did he call his mother and two sisters to welcome the new-comers.

Now the truth about this family was that they were not the King’s servants at all, but they were of the Apostasy family, and had been stationed at that place to turn pilgrims back into the darkness, or if they had no mind to turn back, to put an end to them if possible. Now his name was Mr. Harshness, his mother’s name Cruelty, and his two sisters, Mote Picker and Inquisition. [Is it not amazing how both compromise and fanaticism are both related? Although appearing to be diametrically opposed, yet both spring from a failure to follow the leadings of the Spirit of God.]…

Now their quietness had caused Mr. Harshness much anxiety, because he liked in all outward things to imitate the camp at the mountain top. In fact, this family did dress so plainly that at first sight they would be mistaken for one of the faithful ones; and so did they in many other of the outward ordinances.”

[Lottie L. Jarvis; A True Story in Allegory, “Experiences with the Harshness Family”]

It would seem that every falling away has its two opposing sides—the majority who are gradually changing and the minority who are rigidly attempting to maintain the standards. As these two positions harden, each side becomes ruthless in their objective. But there are others than these two opposing sides.