The word compromise often refers to the agreements and adjustments we must make in our daily lives in order to bring peace, to facilitate reconciliation, and to foster positive relationships. The idea of compromise in this sense is that we bend a little in order to establish trust and create a mutually beneficial situation. I read something once that said compromise is like cutting a cake to make everyone feel that they received the biggest piece. Compromise is important in relationships because it makes both parties feel as if they have had a say.
The word compromise can also have a very negative connotation. Compromise can be used synonymously with the word “concession” or “surrender.” Compromise in this sense means giving in to things that go against the principles and beliefs that define our lives. When we compromise the moral standards by which we live and the spiritual convictions that define our faith, we risk experiencing detrimental, lasting consequences that pull us away from God and into the world.
Martin Luther King, Jr., once said, “Christianity sets forth a system of absolute moral values and affirms that God has placed within the very structure of this universe certain moral principles that are fixed and immutable.” When we make even the slightest compromises to the moral standards that have been established by God, we blur the lines between right and wrong and risk turning our hearts and the hearts of those whom we influence away from the Lord.
Wise King Solomon is the perfect example of how small concessions over time can lead to even greater compromises and have devastating consequences.
When Solomon became king as a young man, he walked closely with the Lord as his father David had done. When asked by God what he would most want, he earnestly requested wisdom and discernment. In his early years, he oversaw the construction of the temple in Jerusalem. At the dedication of the temple, Solomon prayed a beautiful, humble prayer for the people of Israel and spoke of the Lord’s promises and perfect character.
“‘May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us. May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors.'” I Kings 8:57-58
God richly blessed Solomon, not only with great wisdom, but with great power and material wealth. But as Solomon’s possessions and influence grew, he began to fall away from the Lord.
Solomon’s fall began with disobedience. Solomon failed to heed God’s warning about marrying foreign women from idol-worshipping nations (Deuteronomy 23). Instead he acquired over 900 wives and concubines, many from the very nations that God spoke of in His warning.
Solomon often used his marriages strategically to gain political power and expand his kingdom. Solomon’s foreign wives had not only brought with them the power of their fathers, they also brought the gods of their fathers as well as the detestable practices involved in the worship of those gods including sexual acts, prostitution, and the murder of children as sacrifices.
Just as God had warned, Solomon’s heart was turned away from the Lord.
“For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of his father David had been.“I Kings 11:4
Solomon, influenced by his pagan wives, began to compromise the moral standards that had defined his faith. While allowing altars to be built to the gods of his wives, he continued worshipping the one true God. He mistakenly believed that he could have it all. Each concession that Solomon made pushed him further away from the Lord.
When our hearts are turned, our path is turned.
“Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.” I Kings 11:6
It is dangerous to allow people who do not represent the love and commitment to the Lord into the four walls of our homes. We are not strong enough that we will not be seduced, numbed, or perverted as Solomon, the wisest man who lived, was.
Pam Brewer, director of women’s ministry at First Baptist Dallas, presented a concept called the Circles of Influence, a set of concentric circles which illustrates the power others have to influence the decisions we make and the life we live.
In the nucleus, the center circle, are God and you. For believers, God should have the most significant influence over who we are at the core of our being. When believers marry, spouses are included in this center circle. This means that their influence is a strong indication of who we are and how we live. The next circle includes our immediate family, those who live within the walls of our homes. These people still yield significant power over our decisions and behavior, but as we move further away from the nucleus, the people who comprise our circles should have less and less influence.
The choices we make in regard to whom we marry and whom we invite into our homes are very important. Solomon’s wives took their place in the core of his being and overshadowed the influence of God on his life.
When we compromise the statutes, provisions, and protections of God, we are inviting all of the sin the world has to offer into our lives. At some point, we will be asked to take a stand for the righteousness of God, and the more compromises we have made, the harder it will be to do so.
Our moral standards begin to shift with each compromise. We change our view of morality to suit what is right in our own eyes or the eyes of the world rather than basing it on the attributes of God and the statutes He has put in place.
Solomon, in his position as king, also began to turn the hearts of the people. He allowed altars to be built in view of the temple and high above the city. Idol worship became commonplace and sin covered the city.
The Lord was angry at Solomon. God had warned him of what would happen, but Solomon had not listened. Solomon allowed himself to succumb to his own pride and his own desires because of the compromises he had made.
God placed judgment on Solomon but also demonstrated His mercy. The kingdom that had been promised to the descendants of David, if they had remained faithful, would be divided with only one tribe left for Solomon’s son. It is from that tribe, the tribe of Judah, that Christ would be born.
From Solomon’s fall, we learn that sin is never static. Once allowed, it grows, multiplies, deepens, and spreads, ultimately resulting in a separation from God. Though we are not kings, we have influence over those around us. Even one compromise can move the standard of morals that we follow and destroy our witness.
When we cling to the Lord, walking in obedience, being mindful of the influences on our lives, and standing strong in our faith, we see God’s blessings poured out on our lives and experience the fulfillment of His promises.
We must remember Solomon’s own words to his son.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6
***This blog post is an adaptation of a Sunday School lesson taught by Pam Brewer in the writer’s Sunday School class.
About the Writer
Candice has been a member of First Baptist Dallas since 2018 and serves in the REAL Talk Sunday School class. She is a wife, mother, and high school English teacher at a campus for at-risk students. Candice is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and principal certification.
Yada, Yada 