Just a Little?

I heard part of a sermon on the radio this morning talking about Lot. The point the pastor was making was that when we settle for less, when we compromise what we know is right, we aren’t just a little bit wrong.

He used the illustration of a lion and a woodpecker. If you found a lion prowling around your house you’d know you were in danger immediately. But if a woodpecker was flying around outside would you realize the potential destruction? If you compromised, if you waited awhile before chasing the woodpecker away, would you realize the damage he’s inflicted gradually?

Likewise, just a little compromise here and there is chewing away at the Truth, little by little, quietly devastating.

As a pilot, I think of aerial navigation relative to this issue of “just a little compromise”. Picture a compass: 360 degrees makes a full circle. The North is zero (or 360). Count clockwise all the way around, passing South at 180, and you get back to North (360). Now imagine I want to fly from Liberty, Texas to Half Moon Bay, California, a distance of 1450 nautical miles airport to airport. The direct route would be a true course of 295 degrees on the compass, or west-northwest. But what if I compromised and flew just one degree off? What if I settled for 294 for 1450 miles? Where would I end up? 24.167 miles away! For each 60 miles I flew I’d be getting one mile further from my desired course, which makes a big difference if you want to land on a runway and you end up over blue water!

Matthew preserved these words of Jesus, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

The gate is narrow because there is no margin of error. There is Truth and there is evil. What Christians are thankful for is that the penalty for all our errors has been paid. It is our choice to accept the receipt!