Compromised But Not Cancelled

“But life isn’t always that neat and tidy. There comes a day when we find ourselves in a situation where right and wrong are not so clearly defined and every choice we have seems to be a troubling mixture of good and bad.” – Karen Jobes

“Other than Jesus, even the godliest people of the Bible were flawed, often confused and sometimes outright disobedient. We are no different from them. Yet our gracious God omnipotently works his perfect plan through them, through us and most surprisingly, even through powerful political structures that sometimes operate in evil ways.”- Karen Jobes

Every good landscaper knows that it is edges that give you definition. Definition is what makes a landscape go from “okay” to “wow”. It isn’t sameness that you are after, it is differentiation. God calls His people to be different. To be like good landscape with clearly defined edges. But, as Karen Jobes has aptly stated above, life isn’t always that neat and tidy. Exploring Esther deeply has driven home my own uncomfortableness with the reality of blurred edges. Especially in Esther 2, we are confronted by the reality that this is not someone who’s life is different and exemplary. Rather, we are given a deep look into the messiness that is real life. Try as we may, we will find ourselves often with blurred edges. This is increasingly true in a culture that continues to run away from Biblical norms. Life as sacred and protected, blurry. Sexuality is blurry. Gender is getting blurry. Marriage, very blurry. Individual freedom and responsibility, 80% chance of blurry. On and on it goes. There is very little left in our culture where the majority (or at least the loudest voices) agree with the most straightforward understanding of what the Bible teaches. Even concepts like ‘hate’ and ‘love’ are being pulled into meanings that cannot fit into the Christian worldview.

How then shall we live in these days? Well, its confusing at best. And to make matters worse, there is no ‘pure’ path. And so, if we are honest, we are left often as compromised individuals who really want to follow Jesus but often don’t know exactly what that looks like. I don’t say all of this to paralyze or further confuse you. There is enough of that already. How then shall we live? Each day and in every decision do our best, God helping us, by the Holy Spirit’s empowering, to follow Jesus. The difficulty is that none of us does so perfectly. As much as we would like to or even as much as sometimes we think we do. None of us is pure in motive or action. We are a messy mix of good and bad, right and wrong. But, rather than seeing this as defeating, let’s see the encouragement that comes from Esther’s life. Was Esther a broken girl? Yes. She suffered the loss of her parents and her life plans. It is hard to imagine someone whose life collapsed more completely twice. Was Esther a compromised girl? Yes. She did what she wasn’t supposed to do, and in the process won the heart of a pagan and foolish king. Was Esther used by God? Yes. And here is where the encouragement comes. If you are broken and if your life is a messy mix of obedience, disobedience and simple confusion about what to do, God is not giving up on you. He is still at work in your life and in accomplishing His purposes. And that is powerfully hopeful. So, pick up your head. Set your eyes again on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith and keep growing forward. God isn’t done.

For Application:

Our culture lifts people up to celebrity status until they do something ‘unforgiveable’ and then they are cancelled. How is God different in how He loves us and uses us for His purposes?

Do you struggle with feeling compromised? How will you grow in knowing how to live in our often-blurry world? What voices should you listen to more? What voices are unhelpful?

Here’s a song for the compromised but not cancelled. Enjoy!