Flirting with the Line Will Cost You
When I lived in South Asia, my home sat on a dividing line. If you looked left there was the mosque. If you looked right there was the Hindu temple. I lived between two worlds, surrounded by arguably the best food in the world. Seriously. But what I’ll never forget is how small compromises began creeping in, and how quickly little doors opened.
When I moved into that community I was coming out of a very lonely season and stepping into a brand new area of ministry. Church planting. At the same time I was making plans for an all Asia missions base. It was exciting, exhausting, scary, and wild to think about. I was in a new part of the city with some friends and freedom, but I still had my lines I wouldn’t cross.
Being a missionary is strange, and most won’t admit the tension. You’re called to love people and learn their culture, while not subjecting yourself to the very things you oppose. It’s a tightrope. And if you don’t have the Word of God to divide truth from error, the blurred lines will drag you into compromise.
One day our neighbors hosted a massive puja in the parking garage of our complex. Humbled by the invite, we agreed to go. Just months before I would pray in tongues and avoid walking by temples. The darkness felt too much. But this time, as a way to appease the neighbors and learn a little, I sat through the puja and observed. Afterwards I felt defiled, but I shook it off. Surely it was fine.
At first I prayed in tongues outside temples. Then I observed just to be polite. Then I lied just to be safe. Then I stopped praying regularly. What seemed harmless in the moment set me on a slow drift. Years later I wasn’t just observing pujas—I was conducting them. And at the very end of it all I found myself in a yoga retreat, literally inviting a Hindu demon to take residence within my spine to “empower me to be my highest self.” Sin. Will. Grow.
When I look back at what I lost in that season, it still grieves me. Over 150 churches whose pastors’ names I no longer know. 150 villages that may never have received water. Ribbons were not cut at the site of their brand new church building they had prayed and believed for. Nations that were supposed to be reached through an Asia base that never came to be. Girls in Bangkok who never made it off the streets. Drug addicts who never got clean. Sites in Laos and Vietnam that were never planted. And broken relationships that may never come back. All because my desire for sin became greater than my yes.
I’m not saying this to air out my past, and to play a sad song. But I say it to warn you. What you tolerate and ignore will eventually overtake you. It’s subtle. It’s not the next day. But the wages of sin is death. I promise you I know that so deeply in my core. Don’t ask me about compromise. I know the depth of darkness it carries. As Christians we don’t flirt with the flesh. We are called to crucify the flesh, not pacify it.
I love a clip I shared recently where a pastor friend said that when Paul wrote to Timothy, he told him to flee fornication but to fight the good fight of faith. We don’t fight against sin, we run from it. What we fight is the fight of faith, to believe God is exactly who He says He is.
More and more I’m challenged to walk free of compromise. It’s not legalism. It’s not thinking I’m better than anyone else. It’s staying away from bondage.
Galatians 5:9 reminds us, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. A little sin is still sin. Abstain from evil and do good. We’re in a spiritual war, so why waste time worrying about what you can and can’t do.
Don’t play with compromise. It doesn’t stay small. It grows. Don’t flirt with the lines of flesh. Run from sin. Fight for faith. Guard your worship. Because what you tolerate will one day dominate you.
