Incrementalism

 Give an inch... they'll take a mile.

There is no fellowship twixt darkness and light. 2 Corinthians 6:14.

Scripture leaves us in little doubt when God shows up. Whether it's a burning bush, the abrupt termination of a storm, dry land amidst rivers, or global floods, people are somewhat struck by what unfolds when these moments happen.

It's common today for people to presume that such moments are mythological in nature, but I suspect many could still testify of encountering something that suspended the norm for them, and made them very aware of the intervention of a care and mercy beyond everyday means.

The point here is that God's will and domain, whether we see it or not, always has an "immediatism" in respect to its bounds, its absolute ends, and its manner of establishing these. Compromising such ends is shown continually in Scripture as bad, causing peril and usually the first step into the mire.

So, why is it that today, so many believers are incrementalists?

Usually, this is evident when you look at something like the pro-life movement, especially in America. The notion is you 'push' towards the ending of abortion whilst you accept any legal amendments that take 'along a direction of travel' that will hopefully, finally, get you there. Trouble is, of course, is such amendments usually just "adjust" the pro-choice policies already in place, and they don't stop the deaths, so you're not moving very far... if at all.

What's clearly required here is a national repentance for such a sin, and the only way you see that is if there's a spiritual awakening that causes people to open themselves to truth.

I was fortunate enough in the seventies to catch the cusp of something that could have become that before it was swallowed whole by charismatic excess, so I've 'tasted' the distinct difference between such an hour and what we have now, and there is a very real difference.

Sadly, it's now evident that such thinking isn't exclusive in the church in respect to an issue like the death of the unborn.

Incrementalism is in play when it comes to accepting aborted cell-line medications, obeying non-faith based 'health' policies, accommodating mass media 'news' as our standard measurement of current affairs, to name but a few of the most pertinent realms in which God's actual take on a matter is given a backseat.

There's no problem with us engaging with this culture, but what that needs to bring is a clear, untarnished voice, not merely a stuttering to echo the 'stars quo' of the moment. God has revealed, down the line, what is good and just Himself, so it's up to us make sure we're standing on the right side of that line when His hour of reckoning descends.

The mirage of the moment is that we can, in effect, plant our feet in both realms - secular and spiritual - at the same time, and all will be well, because we're looking for incremental change. The fact is that once such compromise is in play, the only accommodation is on the side of what is genuinely required - men's hearts will always de-fault to what is wicked.

Time to wake up and stand firm or be lost in the roar that builds to judgement.