Uncompromising vs. uncompromising

    Whenever I write about a topic that doesn't seem to make sense, I first go to my theology of God, and one of the most important pieces of theology -to me- is that God leads by example. Jesus lived the life to the tee the life that he would have us live, and studying his life only gives us the perfect example of the Father, what the Father desires, and who the Father is. I am continually fascinated at how well Jesus does balance, how well he understands his own identity, and how he uses the tool of uncompromising. Now, when we see the word we might think of someone who dared not step off your front porch even after you've said "no" three times. I was someone like this. Or you might think of someone who has done apologetics in their specific stream of faith or is unyielding in their line of thought. Yet these are only a couple examples of what 'uncompromising' can accomplish. Or can't, depending on who you ask. 

    But I'd like to define the word a little better than just these couple examples. A salesman once said, "A salesperson is only as good as their word." Should a salesperson NEVER compromise on telling the truth about the products they are selling, I don't think that many people would buy unless they already knew they had a specific need. Yet, here we are, in a world where the media compromises on telling the people who they're supposed to be teaching and pastoring, lies every day, bends research, and has only proven how untrustworthy they are. People are susceptible, to salespeople lying to their faces about how this new pill will cure their cancer, this new vaccine will stop the virus, or this new currency will change banking forever. Yet they are not being given information that is uncompromised. They are being given information filtered to match desires, needs, and wants they may not have even had before. As someone who does research and enjoys doing research, I know that I can turn a blind eye to the research that points to the weaknesses of a specific product, or something that I am researching. This is called research bias. This is also called a compromise. I am compromising my filter of research and what I believe based on the desire to be right. So how do I define 'uncompromising'? I define it as anything that is unwilling to move. As I said before, it is a tool to help us define the boundaries of who we are and what we are willing to do or not willing to do. It is a tool that we can use to help adhere ourselves to justice and truth and can act as an adhesive to who God is. 

    As I have already given examples of how not to use compromise and how to not be uncompromising, I think it'd be cool to point out some ways that Jesus was uncompromising in a Godly way. The first story I think of is when the Pharisees were demanding a sign from Jesus. At this point, they had already seen many signs, they had heard testimony that Jesus was, in fact, working miracles, and they had had every opportunity to believe in him who was sent by the Father. They demanded him for a miracle because they were challenging his character and identity, not because they didn't have ample evidence. Jesus knew it and acted in such a way that still baffles me. He was uncompromising in delivering a miracle and said, "the only sign that will be given to this wicked and faithless generation is the sign of Jonah" (Matt 12:39). He used the tool of uncompromisation as a way of telling this "wicked and faithless generation" to "step off his identity as the son of God and get back to being humbled by the evidence I have already given you." Had he chosen to give the Pharisees a sign, it's hard to say what might happen. I know for one that they probably wouldn't believe in Jesus still, but I also know that the consequences of Jesus compromising on His own identity would have been far more cosmic than had he decided to tell or show these people just the right thing at the right time, or decided to feed their desires for yet another proof.  

    Jesus exemplifies uncompromising in a light that could only be righteous and just. Many times in the world we exemplify uncompromising in a light that is manipulative and self-serving. Hopefully, we can learn to bridge the gap together, in unity with Christ.