In the Calvin & Hobbes cartoon strip, Calvin often played calvinball, a game in which the rules were always changing to benefit him. That’s how “Christian chameleons” often treat the truth, changing it to appeal to a wider audience, blend in better with the culture, or benefit themselves in some way.
The question we need to ask is: are we seeking to please self or God?
I. Judges 18:3-20. When Joshua divided the promised land among the tribes of Israel, God scattered the Levites throughout the tribes to remind them of His covenant and Law. In the previous chapter, the Levite was so glad to be employed by Micah that he never says anything against his master’s carved image, household gods, or the location of worship. When 600 armed Danites ask him if it was better to serve one man or a whole tribe, the Levite goes with them, never mentioning God, the tabernacle, proper worship, what God desired, or the need to be holy as God is holy.
II. 1 Timothy 4:16. When we don’t watch our life and doctrine closely, we fall into selfishness and sin or compromise truth because of cultural pressures. In both cases we stray from being a true worshiper in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), become a friend to the world (James 4:1-4), and seek to please self rather than God (2 Corinthians 5:9). Rather, we must seek first His Kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33) and do everything in word and deed in His Name (Colossians 3:17).
III. Ezekiel 22:23-30. During the Babylonian captivity, Ezekiel tells us how those who should have been standing firm on truth had strayed in their duties. He lays God’s charges against the priests, princes, prophets, and people and ends with the lament that there was no one to stand in the breach. This was true in the time of judges, captivity … but not today. Jesus stood in the breach for us by the cross and then turned His work over to His followers to be the light of the world (John 9:1-5).
Are you? Will you stand in the breach to tell a sinful world the saving message of the gospel? Or will you compromise with the culture? Will you do what is pleasing to you or God? You cannot live your live by “Is it better for you …?” Rather, it should be “Is it better for God …?”