“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:14-15)
Is compromising with the world good? Joshua here states that it is sin. Here he exhorted the people of God to faithfulness, implying that there were many Israelites who still practiced the pagan ways of their ancestors who had left Egypt or had adopted the idolatry of the surrounding nations including Mesopotamia and Canaan. Perhaps there were Israelites who thought they could worship these gods and worship Yahweh at the same time without disrespecting Him. But this is impossible. That is why Joshua gave the people a choice. He made the choice for himself and his whole family to serve Yahweh, but he could not force the people to do the same.
We too face the same choice the Israelites had. We think we can compromise with the ways and values of the world but still worship God. Some of the things we value include money, sex, sports, clothing, possessions, fame, power, gourmet food, electronic gadgets, alcohol and drugs. We seem to talk about such things so often that they seem as if they were the most important things in life. And in many cases, that is so.
Yet the Lord God is supreme and will not accept worship that is divided. We must choose daily between the world and the Lord as we are in the midst of a culture that influences and pressures us to do that which is evil and ungodly. Any compromise dishonors the Lord who loves us.