[Re}ject Compromise
Nehemiah 13:4-14
On February 14, Howard Schultz Chairman of Starbucks sent the following email to his CEO Jim Donald. :“Over the past ten years, in order to achieve the growth, development, and scale necessary to go from less than 1,000 stores to 13,000 stores and beyond, we have had to make a series of decisions that, in retrospect, have lead to the watering down of the Starbucks experience, and, what some might call the commoditization of our brand.
Many of these decisions were probably right at the time, and on their own merit would not have created the dilution of the experience; but in this case, the sum is much greater and, unfortunately, much more damaging than the individual pieces. For example, when we went to automatic espresso machines, we solved a major problem in terms of speed of service and efficiency. At the same time, we overlooked the fact that we would remove much of the romance and theatre that was in play with the use of the La Marzocca machines….. (second) the need for flavor locked packaging. Again, the right decision at the right time, and once again I believe we overlooked the cause and the affect of flavor lock in our stores. We achieved fresh roasted bagged coffee, but at what cost? The loss of aroma -- perhaps the most powerful non-verbal signal we had in our stores; the loss of our people scooping fresh coffee from the bins and grinding it fresh in front of the customer, and once again stripping the store of tradition and our heritage? Then we moved to store design. Clearly we have had to streamline store design to gain efficiencies of scale and to make sure we had the ROI on sales to investment ratios that would satisfy the financial side of our business. However, one of the results has been stores that no longer have the soul of the past and reflect a chain of stores vs. the warm feeling of a neighborhood store. Some people even call our stores sterile, cookie cutter, no longer reflecting the passion our partners feel about our coffee……
Now that I have provided you with a list of some of the underlying issues that I believe we need to solve, let me say at the outset that we have all been part of these decisions. I take full responsibility myself, but we desperately need to look into the mirror and realize it’s time to get back to the core and make the changes necessary to evoke the heritage, the tradition, and the passion that we all have for the true Starbucks experience……the current state of affairs for the most part is self induced, ….
I have said for 20 years that our success is not an entitlement and now it’s proving to be a reality. Let’s be smarter about how we are spending our time, money and resources. Let’s get back to the core…..we have an enormous responsibility to both the people who have come before us and the 150,000 partners and their families who are relying on our stewardship….
One of the great challenges of life is to remain diligent and not compromise in life. It’s so easy that once life gets going and you experience some seasons of success to just put things on cruise control. Have you been there before? After 12 years of building Jerusalem’s commerce, culture and community, the leaders began to slowly drift from their vows and promises and their passionate pursuit of God. This is the way spiritual drift usually occurs: it’s usually not an intentional act or some large decision which is made but rather is just a small step in the opposite direction followed by another small step and then another. Compromise happens one degree at a time. And before we know it, we have compromised our faith and our values which then threatens everything of who we are.
We become like the boxer who is exhausted and drops his hands. When you drop your hands, you’ve dropped your guard and that’s when you become vulnerable. That’s what happens to a lot of us. We’re either treating the journey of life as a sprint rather than a marathon and we wear ourselves out causing us to drop our guard. Or time drifts by and with it we slowly begin to drift one small step at a time from our commitment to God and placing Him first in our life.
Seemingly innocent decisions can have detrimental implications. Eliashib’s relationship with Tobiah had apparently impacted his leadership and Israel’s commitment to God. The Israelites had apparently stopped tithing to support the Temple and the work of God. How do we know this? The storehouse which was used to store the grain offerings and all the things of God now stood empty. Since the room was empty, Eliashib provided Tobiah with that room to store his things. In my mind, I can see Eliashib rationalizing that he could replace some of the lost offerings by renting out this space for storage and there was none better than Tobiah who had the resources to pay. What started out as good intentions to prop up the lagging financial situation of the Temple ending up defiling it. This is the way it is with compromise. What seems to be an innocuous situation soon has great implications.
So many of you started off strong, you had great potential, great passion and great purpose but you’ve dropped your guard. You’ve dropped your guard in your marriage. You’ve dropped your guard in your careers. You’ve dropped your guard in your parenting. You’ve dropped your guard in your finances. And whenever you drop your guard, you reap the consequences of your compromise. Subtle compromise will have great consequences as it grows to affect every area of your life. It’s like the old saying, “If a rat can get its nose in a hole, it will get its whole body in eventually.” If you make a small compromise today, an even greater compromise will follow down the line and you will reap the fruit of sin tomorrow. To sin means to miss the mark. Missing the mark is caused by subtle compromises.
Compromise not only impacts us but others too. We live in a society which is relativistic. People no longer believe in absolutes. Nothing is wrong for everybody which means I can do whatever I want as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody else. But the fact is our lives are a web of relationships. And what happens to me impacts the people in my life. And so this begins to adversely affect the people of Israel and their relationship to God.Eliashib’s decision impacted his own leadership and walk with God but also that of the Israelites too. For it was their Temple which was defiled and his example which affirmed the decisions of many who were not living up to their faith.
Keeping Our Guards Up. In order to keep from lowering our guards, it is extremely vital to re-evaluate our associations. Eliashib and Tobiah had been working with one another for a number of years. You will remember that Tobiah was the main force who opposed the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. And so Eliashib the priest was associating with the very man who had opposed the work of God. And that relationship began to influence Eliashib until the point when he commits a cardinal sin: allowing an unclean person or Gentile to be allowed in the Temple. Tobiah used his relationship with Eliashib to get use of some of the empty storerooms in the temple. That’s the thing with some relationships. They may start off innocently but they will eventually influence you for good or ill. What or who is your Tobiah today? What’s keeping you from doing the work of God and pursuing his life dream for you? There’s always a Tobiah lurking so the key is to always keep your guard up. And that means re-evaluating the people and relationships in your life. The people in our lives can either bring out the best in us or they can bring out the worst. They can lift us up to our purpose or drag us down. Paul give us this warning “Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." 1 Cor 13:33 If you find yourself hanging out with evil ultimately you will find yourself sleeping with the enemy.
Second, expect evil and opposition. It is amazing that whenever you seek to fulfill your life purpose, evil and resistance will rear its ugly head. Evil is opportunistic. It is always looking to come into your life, especially the case when you lower your guard. In addition, any time you are making an initiative to pursue God’s purpose or to advance the kingdom of God, expect evil and opposition so you won’t be blindsided. That means you have to always be on guard and always working to keep your guard up. One of the keys to keeping your guard up Paul says in Ephesians 6:11: “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” In other words, be prepared and expect evil and opposition.
Third, avoid small compromises. It’s the little things that can cause you to do wrong even when you have the right intentions. It’s the little things which cause us to turn our backs and set us on the path of spiritual drift away from God. Whenever you begin to compromise your integrity, it will hinder the ability of God to use you and work through you to accomplish his will. The power of God works best in your life when you live a life of integrity in God.
Fourth, continually check your path. The Apollo Missions to the moon had such a small percentage of error that if every 30 seconds they did not check their path and make any corrections needed, they would have missed the gravitational pull of the moon and any chance to return back to earth. In other words, they had to be continually monitoring their progress and their direction. The same should be true for us spiritually, morally an dethically as well.
Fifth, set up a system of accountability. So many of us are have to live with the repercussions of our compromises because we’ve been trying to live for God by ourselves. Even Jesus sent the disciples out 2 by 2 to support one another and hold each other accountable in their lives and actions. As a father, a husband and a pastor, I need people in my life to hold me accountable. When we do this Jesus thing by ourselves we’re not living as God intended. You can’t do this by yourself! That’s why we need the body of Christ, for support and accountability. You and I need people in our lives who will hold us accountable. Who holds you accountable? Who reminds you of the promises you have made and tells you how you’re doing?
Sixth, make courageous corrections. Nehemiah was a courageous leader and never compromised in what God had called him to do. “I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah’s household goods out of the room” The moment Nehemiah heard that part of the temple was being used by a Gentile and enemy of the work of God, he showed courage by standing up and correcting what never should have been in the first place. We may not be able to stop the opposition, or limit evil’s advances toward us but we can choose to have the courage to correct the very thing which is stopping you from pursuing your life purpose. So many of us want to do great things for God but to accomplish that, we need courage. And here’s the promise of God: I will give you power. Acts 1:8 We are called and equipped to work in and through the power of God. And because of the power he had in God, Nehemiah rebuked the priest and called them out, reminding them evil had no place in God’s house.
God is looking for warriors, not wimps who will speak and call out evil by name. Your silence right now makes you just as guilty as the perpetrator. One of the biggest threats to justice and curbing crime in our community is people who are unwilling to be witnesses against crimes they have witnessed. In fact, nationally there is a campaign which is called “Stop Snitching.” This is a campaign to convince informants and witnesses to stop "snitching," or informing, to law enforcement. Some public officials and others say that it is a campaign used by criminals to frighten people with information from reporting their activities to the police. It is our calling to speak out against that which is evil and unjust. We are called to be the voice of God. We are not better than anybody but we called to call evil by name and to confront it. God says you can’t be controlled by intimidation but you need courage for that to be the case. We need to speak out against the very things which are stopping us from fulfilling their life purpose and establishing the kingdom of God here in our midst.
Seventh, realign your priorities. Sin has no power over your life when you have the right priorities in your life. When you realign your priorities, then God is on your side. “I gave orders to purify the rooms, and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense.” When we realign our priorities and realize it is not about us but about honoring God, then God’s house won’t be neglected. When you realign your priorities, not only is God honored but you get in position for God to use you. “Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts.” In other words, Nehemiah put them back in the place God had called them to serve. Sin literally had them out of position. They were working back in the field but Nehemiah realized that if they realigned their priorities, they could once again be used by God. And that means the community is now realigned in God’s priorities. And now they are positioned to operate out of their gifts, their passions and their personal style of ministry.
Right now where you are sitting, it doesn’t matter what you have done or what promises or vows you might have compromised on, I want you to know that God has not forgotten about you. God is ready to use you for a greater purpose. God will give you grace right now to be a greater blessing. God will give you strength not to compromise or lower your guards again. God wants to do some powerful things through this church and through ordinary people just like you and me to restore hope to those in despair. May we never compromise on the task at hand or the will of God for our life together. Amen.
