Rigidity of mind and character is not generally appreciated in today's society. And it is no wonder that it is not. Most people are not right - at least not right in everything.
So, rigidity is equated with stubbornness, pigheadedness, close-mindedness and ignorance.
Jesus is the Truth .
Assuming a person really knows Jesus, then they know the Truth.
The Bible is Truth .
Assuming a person really knows the Bible, they know the Truth.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit Of Truth .
Assuming a person is filled with the Holy Spirit, they know the Truth.
Hence, if a person is in Christ and His Word and His Holy Spirit is in them, then they know the Truth.
Unfortunately, Christianity devolved after the first couple of centuries into a religion rather than intimacy with the Truth.
The Catholic Church which spearheaded that devolution totally controlled Christianity for 1200 years and it still controls a large segment of believers in Christ.
The devolution from relationship with the Truth to religion was a result of compromise. Though I was not there and cannot unequivocably assert this to be the case, it appears that the lack of exposure to the Truth (access to scripture, good teaching and Holy Spirit infilling) led the church leaders to doctrinalize Christianity for the sake of consistency and control.
Accordingly, I am not accusing the church leaders of evil intent. I am simply pointing out that they lacked two things which caused them to do what THEY thought best to avoid error:
➛ preaching that believers be filled with the Spirit Of Truth
➛ trust that the Holy Spirit would keep believers in the Truth
The lack of access to the Bible and the failure to teach Spirit Baptism resulted in darkness as the Jesus that they ended up preaching was some second-rate God and that His Holy Spirit was a third-rate God.
This could not help but lead to darkness as Jesus is not only Truth, but He is Light. In darkness there is no clarity. Things are not recognized for what they are. In the presence of uncertainty, assumptions are made and decisions are built on those assumptions.
As a result, you end up valuing the artificial more than the real. You get used to the substitute and forget about the real.
Compromise ends up starting a new path which is different than the original path. It represents a fork in the road which cannot help but end up in a place that was not originally intended.
Christianity was forked from the StraightAndNarrow into a religion which shared the same origin. When Christ Jesus commanded us to return to our First Love and do our First Works He was commanding us to go back to the StraightAndNarrow .
The StraightAndNarrow is Christ Jesus who is defined by His Word and His Holy Spirit.
Spirit And Truth is the Strait And Narrow and it is the ONLY way in which we are to worship Him . All other forms of worship, regardless of the aritistry or professionalism cannot help but miss the mark .
Christ Jesus eliminated the issue of sin by covering it once and for all time with His blood . His focus is on faith whereby we enter into intimate, personal relationship with Him .
➛ abiding in His Word
➛ immersed in His Holy Spirit
If you have compromised or been compromised and so taken the fork into error, it is time to repent (change directions) and be correctly oriented in Him - His Word and His Holy Spirit.