December 17, 2018 @ 8:00 AM
Our Lord taught us an indelible doctrine in Mark 8:35. According to Him, any attempt on our part to save ourselves at His or the Gospel's expense will surely fail, resulting instead in the forfeiture of our soul. Unfortunately, the Boy Scouts have become a tragic example of this definite Biblical doctrine. In an attempt to survive financially, they sacrificed their principles in hopes of appeasing their unprincipled critics in today's politically correct culture. However, instead of compromise resulting in increased contributions, it has resulted in financial insolvency. Not only did it fail to procure donations from the Boy Scouts' politically correct detractors, but it also cut off contributions from their former, principled supporters. Worst of all, it cost the Boy Scouts its soul. It is truly a heartbreaking tragedy to see this once honorable institution reduced to ashes over its groveling before the ungodly for filthy lucre.
As much as this pains me, what pains me more is to see "churches" making this same fatal mistake. All over America today, so-called churches are compromising the Gospel to grow their crowd and increase their contributions. In these politically correct days, within which an ever-growing majority of Americans find Biblical sound doctrine intolerable, more and more churches are replacing it with ear-tickling teaching in hopes of soliciting support from Bible bashers with itching ears. While such pacification may temporarily placate politically correct pew potatoes, as well as occasionally solicit a sawbuck, it will in the end inevitably lead, as our Lord guaranteed us, to the demise of all Gospel compromising "churches." Like the Boy Scouts, they too will go down in shame, having sacrificed their immortal soul for their immediate survival.
Jim Elliot, a Christian missionary who lost his life in an attempt to share the Gospel with the Huaorani people of Ecuador, once said, "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Unfortunately, most professed Christians and present-day churches are more than willing to give up what they cannot lose in a vain attempt to hold on to what they cannot keep. When will we ever realize that it's not our personal survival, nor the survival of our particular church, that matters most in this world, but the survival of a pure Gospel, since the Gospel is the world's only hope of salvation. If, as our Lord taught us, we are willing to sacrifice ourselves for the propitiation of a pure and unadulterated Gospel in this fallen world, then, and only then, can we count on the eternal salvation of our immortal soul.
There is no shame in loosing everything for the sake of Christ and His Gospel. On the other hand, there is no greater shame than to lose everything, including your own soul, groveling at the feet of today's ungodly fallen world. If you don't believe me, just ask the Boy Scouts!