At the outbreak of the Civil War in America, a Tennessee cotton-planter could not decide which cause to support, the North or the South. He had friends on both sides, so he decided to be absolutely neutral. He wore a gray jacket with blue pants, dressing for both the North and South. One day this man was caught in the middle of a skirmish between the two armies. He stood up and shouted that he was neutral in this fight and expected to be allowed to leave the field before the battle closed in on him. But Union sharpshooters, seeing the gray jacket, riddled it with bullets. And Confederate marksmen, seeing the blue pants, filled them with lead.

That guy was foolish, wasn't he? To make such a compromise in his convictions! It is easy for us to see that. But you know, the same kind of compromise happens all the time in the world, and in our own lives, and when the truth or principles are compromised, it always has a bad ending. Our text today talked about two men. One of those men is famous, or infamous you could say, for the way he compromised. Pontius Pilate was one of history's great compromisers. He was willing to give up his principles, what he knew to be right, for the sake of convenience. It was Pilate's responsibility as a governor to carry out justice. He had been given that power from above! But he failed miserably to do so.

Pilate knew Jesus was innocent! His wife confirmed that. He knew he should let Jesus go. That would have been justice - Pilate's responsibility. He returned to the mob and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him." But he didn't have the courage to insist, "So, I am going to release him." Pilate was concerned about what the Jewish leaders would do, what Caesar would think, and he was worried about his career. He still tried some spineless ways of releasing Jesus, but to no avail. So, Pilate compromised what he knew to be right.

What should Pilate have done? Do you think it is better to compromise or commit to truth? Wouldn't Pilate's career have been ruined if he let this "enemy of Caesar" go? Wasn't he better off now, making friends on both sides? Does compromise help you out in life? Aren't you better off with a little compromise here and there? Let's get one thing straight - not all compromise is bad. Compromise is often very wise. In fact, a Christian will often compromise their own comfort for the good of others. That's good compromise. That is very different than the kind of compromise that involves God-given principles and truth. When principles are involved, compromise is a betrayal of truth and principle.

Even though you may not be a governor who has to make such crucial decisions, would you agree with me that there are many decisions we face daily which bring us the temptation to compromise? Unfortunately, compromise is wired into our human nature. It is a favorite tactic of our old Adam. It is a mortal enemy of Christian character. God does not allow us to make peace, as Pilate sought to do, on our own terms. And that's what compromise is. It's an attempt to solve problems our way rather than God's way.

Cheating, lying, marital infidelity, divorce, abortion, alcoholism, and slander all involve compromise. You're working on your taxes, and you discover some income you haven't reported, but you are already done with your return, and figure that the government probably got more than it's fair share from you in other places, so you justify it that way and compromise. Millions of people divorce and are unfaithful in their marriages. They know they made those promises for life, but it takes work or is hard to keep faithful or the love isn't there, so let's just compromise to make this easier on everyone. A child becomes pregnant out of wedlock. Now there is a responsibility to take care of, some might consider it a personal setback at this time of life. Abortion makes such an easy way to compromise what most human beings must realize to be true - that the conceived child is a living human being. I may not have pressed your guilt-button yet, but I am sure we all have compromised one way. Every time we participate in gossip or running someone down behind their back, we are compromising what we know to be right.

The worst kind of compromise is the one that involves our faith in the true Word of God. As Christians, we have been given the greatest gift in the good news that is ours right here in God's Word. We are surrounded daily by people who don't think it is that important to take everything in here so seriously. We encounter people who consider themselves Christians, but try telling us it isn't that important to listen to everything God says. We all worship the same god anyway, don't we? Let's just try to get along. Let's compromise what we believe a little bit so that there doesn't have to be a division between us. That kind of compromise leads us to deny God! If we compromise on that truth just to get along with other people's religious beliefs, we aren't worshiping the true God at all!

Winter was coming, and a hunter went out into the forest to shoot a bear to make himself a warm fur coat. When he saw one, he raised his rifle and took aim. "Wait," said the bear, "Isn't it better to talk than to shoot? What do you want? Let's negotiate." Lowering his rifle, the hunter said, "I am cold. I want a fur coat." "OK," said the bear, "that is negotiable. All I want is a full stomach, because I am hungry. So let's negotiate a compromise." They sat down to negotiate, and after a time the bear walked away alone. The negotiations had been successful. The bear had a full stomach and the hunter had his fur coat. The point is that we always lose out when we try to compromise with sin. It will consume us in the end.

So what can we learn from all of this? We need to know that there are worse things in life than personal setbacks, and compromise is one of them. Each of us needs to ask, "How does compromise worm its way into my life and undermine my relationship with my Savior? And how often do I, like Pilate, try to make excuses for it? We need to answer those questions for ourselves. And when we do, we will see that we all need to repent.

When we see our need for repentance, we need to turn to the One who was the exact opposite of Pilate: Jesus. Pilate was interested in saving his skin; Jesus was interested in saving our souls. In Pilate, justice failed. In Jesus, justice triumphed for us all, because of his uncompromising loyalty to the truth. He refused to compromise, even though it meant that He, the innocent one, would have to die so that guilty ones, you and me, could go free. That was the ultimate purpose behind all of the injustice played out here. The whole life of Christ exhibited that total commitment from beginning to end. You can be sure there were many easier paths Jesus could have chosen than go to his death on the cross! But if He would have taken the easier path, like we often do in compromise, we would have been in trouble.

Finally in Pilate's courtroom, Jesus had one last chance to defend Himself, to compromise. But He didn't. He remained silent. And that wasn't a sign of weakness, but of strength and determination. He was determined to make up for all of our compromises with his determination to make no compromises.

Do you know what that means for you and me? Jesus was our substitute. It means that He took the blame for all our compromises and gives us the credit for his uncompromising commitment to the truth. It means that through believing in Him and what He did for us, our Savior's achievement becomes ours! The Pilates of this world scoff at this kind of truth, but it is the truth! It changes our whole identity from those who join in actions that call for Christ to be crucified to those who can humbly say with gratitude, "He was crucified for me!"

If we can say this with gratitude, because we know God has forgiven us because of Jesus, we can't just sit still! We are compelled to follow Jesus! And that means we want to show to the world what Jesus showed for us in his passion and death. It means that we will also want others to know that we are in Christ and that He lives in us. To live with that purpose always in mind is to know peace. To compromise our identity in Christ is to rob ourselves of the peace that only Jesus can give. So what is better? Compromise or commitment to truth? Jesus gives us a pretty good answer. The fact that his answer spared my life is a good enough reason for me to follow Him! Amen.

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