A Lingering Darkness

Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. - 1 John 1:5

The dictionary defines "compromise" as "an agreement reached by adjustment of conflicting or opposing claims, principles, etc."

Every Christ-follower struggles between two opposing claims: the claim of Christ (upon the life that He purchased by His blood) and the claim of this world (expressed through fleshly desires); therefore, we must always be asking ourselves, "Are we compromising? Is "compromise" affecting our ability to transform the culture that surrounds us, whatever culture that happens to be?"

John wrote that "there is absolutely no darkness" in God (emphasis mine). Well, I wonder, if there is any lingering in us? How can we possibly shine His light into the darkness of this world if we insist on continuing to embrace the world He desires to see transformed? Hasn't Christ's purchase demanded more of us than this?

Of course, it has.

There can be no compromise with war; it cannot be reformed or controlled; cannot be disciplined into decency or codified into common sense. - Jeannette Rankin