Transformation in the Land Between 3

Letters for the Land Between

Letter 3: On Compromise

Dear Georges,

You asked about compromise: what’s behind a public image not matching one’s private world. This is my response to your plea: “Lord, help me deal with compromise!” The battle for your character is on the line. Auctioning your soul for outward success is a fool’s bargain.

Character is everything in my books. It’s what I record in heaven’s annals.

Beware! There’s a lie as old as time. You’ll be like God. You choose how! Never mind what God said. Fit in, play the game. Get noticed. Appreciated. Seen as competent. The apple of compromise looks and feels good. Reach. Grab. Eat. The trade-off is not all bad. It’s good, on the outside! The truth: death came into the world by this bargain. What does it profit the man who bargains with his character for a moment in the limelight?

The god of this world played the human soul like a fiddle. Left unfenced the Snake slithered in easily. Man and Woman took the bait. They ate. Their eyes opened! Their souls slammed shut, no entry. Their character was compromised. Success on the outside, soul corrosion on the inside. Compromise as a staple of the human condition is a repeat performance today.

This is the lie told a gazillion times: “You’ll succeed if you’re good at what you do. And with competence capacity soars. Get better, develop your skills. You’ll be a smash hit everywhere!” Truth is, only the devil and shallow humans are impressed with king-Saul-like glory! What cunning! Meanwhile, a leader bites the dust of compromise, gaining the fortune of popularity while losing his soul. A woman of beauty and elegance begs for the needle’s serum to forget her atrophied soul!

In contrast: God’s truth. It also comes from the dawn of time: by obeying my words you will know the truth and I’ll free you. You’ll be able and trusted to do what you want because what you want is what I want. The truth been there since day seven of creation: Character determines capacity. Not competence. Stewarding the earth, human flourishing, working with Father in his rule on earth as in heaven takes exponentially more spirit than skill. Without character, life is reduced to a few words on a tombstone: “I did it my way. I amassed popularity, gained the whole world while my soul withered and died.”

Beloved friend, I made you with one thing in mind: to become like me. In every high and every low, in the isolating quarantine, when pressured, anxious and fearful, character will make you bloom where you’re planted. Don’t wash and polish the outside of the cup, but leave the inside filthy and corrupt. Clean the inside and the whole thing is clean. That’s what Father, Spirit and Me get out of your life. No one wants to hear “depart from me, I never knew you” even if their public works are of Herodian proportions. Who you are becoming is what you, your friends and family get as well.

I am often amused at funerals, the reluctance people show to speak the truth: He wasn’t a good dad. He was more interested in work than his kids. He served his church to a fault but he had no time for me.

Here’s help. Daily tell yourself the truth. Remember, the temptation is image management, where compromise is born. Mind the gap between the exterior and the interior, the real you. Mind this gap constantly. There’s a kick you get from shining in public while the darkness is deep within. Fight it! Paul did: Wretched man that I am! Who can deliver me...? I can.

Come, let us reason, Georges. Exchange the lie for the truth. Public persona? Or inner, true, unwavering devotion to my ways. That’s how you spell good character. The “well done my good and faithful servant” kind of good character.

Be an open book. Don’t cover it up. Your compromise story won’t go viral. The virus of compromise thrives in the dark. When you commit to do something, just do it! Let your yes be yes, your no, no.

Own your compromise. Don’t rationalize. Don’t believe your own justification for failing. Your own press. Blame no one else for bad decisions and wrong behavior. Waste no energy convincing yourself you’re better than that or not as bad as him. It makes you a cynic.

Watch the ego. Self-centered people annoy; others-centered people edify. When it’s all about you, you rent your soul to narcissism.

There you have it. Next time I’ll give you more practical ways to stay on the straight and narrow road of uncompromised living.

Signed: King Jesus.