Compromise or Faithful?

2 Kings 16 King Ahaz goes down in history as one of Judah’s worst kings. This chapter is a must-read for any leader to see how quickly one can move from faithfulness to compromise. The list of Ahaz’s sins is like reading the seven deadly sins of the Hollywood elite.  It begins with “he did and he did” and finally ends with “he died and was buried.”

• Ahaz rejected (Lev 18:21) 
• He offered sacrifices & burned incense on the high places
•  He presented himself as a servant and dependent on an enemy
•  He bribed the Assyrian king and opened the door for him to conquer Israel whom he promptly deported.
•  He had built an altar just like the Assyrian’s.
•  He moved the bronze altar that stood in the Lord’s presence from the front and put it on the north side of the new altar. AND the priest consented as the king requested. The high priest, unfortunately, cooperated with the king!
•  He removed the Sabbath awning.

When we read this list, we say, I would NEVER do that, but is that true? Malachi wrote about this same problem.  Do we offer our best to God?  We say I would NEVER compromise but do we? Does God present an opportunity to witness, but we take the easy way out?  We say that we would NEVER build altars, but do we try to keep up with the neighbor next door?

Remember Paul’s warning: “And what agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what does a believer share in common with an unbeliever?” [2Cor 6:15]