Should we Compromise our Position on Compromise?

We need to build bridges and cross the aisle so we can find the middle ground. We hear more and more rhetoric of that ilk these days in all segments of the population, and on the surface it sounds pretty good. Spending time talking to people, looking at collective survey or poll data and research results, having dialogue with experts in specific fields and then coming to points of compromise seems to be the right thing to do. Compromise is without question a beneficial practice, but only if the issue under consideration is not foundational (or essential).

I believe this issue represents a serious mistake in logic and a systemic problem in the United States today. In our efforts to conform and be “progressive” and “relevant” we have forgotten that compromise is not a requirement. In fact, if we compromise the essential, foundational principles of our lives, then all is lost. To build a bridge there has to be two fixed sides separated by a gap; to cross an aisle there first has to be a separation of the seats; for a middle to exist there has to be two ends. We know when a race is half over because we have a starting line and a finish line. When building a house, one can choose either brick veneer or vinyl siding and one can choose wallpaper or paint, but a wise builder cannot choose to build without a foundation.
So the question becomes what are the foundational principles of life, and who decides what they are? I would submit that we do not, and in fact should not be allowed, to decide these principles. I also believe the founding fathers of our nation and our state would have agreed. Two hundred and thirty three years ago, the founders of this nation penned the Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies, it begins: “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” According to the founders of this nation, our foundation is laid on the unalienable Rights, and self-evident truths to which we are endowed by our Creator, and two distinctive points emerge. First, the words “unalienable” and “self-evident” indicate that the rights and truths of which they speak exist outside of us, were not established by us, and therefore cannot be changed by us. Second, they felt strongly enough to leave their country en masse, to fight and ultimately to die to protect those foundational principles.

The Preamble to our own North Carolina Constitution states, “We, the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for the preservation of the American Union and the existence of our civil, political and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those blessings to us and our posterity, do, for the more certain security thereof and for the better government of this State, ordain and establish this Constitution.”

Jesus taught a parable on foundations in Luke 6:47-49, “I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

Jesus Christ is the foundation of a solid life, and the Bible is the written Word on which the foundational aspects of our lives should be based. We have a foundation that must be preserved. Whatever the foundational topic under debate, we must not go to popular opinion, or poll results, or the emotion of the day for a point of compromise. We must consult the foundational principles of our lives and hold fast. I believe that if we adopt the position that it is alright to compromise anything, we will end up compromising everything. We will slowly but surely chip away the entirety of our foundation, and when the torrent comes, we will collapse and our destruction will be complete.

I am well aware that many who read such statements will say that those are narrow-minded, intolerant, old-fashioned, or perhaps even ignorant views on life. The simple fact of reality is that there is truth, and the truth is exclusive by definition. There is a definitive line that has been established. Many groups work very hard to move the fixed line of absolute moral truth by changing laws, or appealing to popular opinion. Let us make no mistake, the line of truth does not move, we only decide as a group to move across it. We hear in many arenas the statement, “…and the truth will set you free.” The rest of John 8:31-32 and 34-36 is almost always conveniently left out: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free…I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Truth is important. Foundations are necessary. Let’s turn from the urge to compromise away all the principles of prime importance in our lives and stand firm on the rock on which we are founded.