Good To A Fault

2 Chronicles 19:2 KJV

And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.

The first king Jehoshaphat was a godly man in almost every respect

·         He cleaned out idolatry in Judah

·         He prepared his own heart to seek the Lord and

·         He made steps to urge godliness among his citizenship

But Jehoshaphat had one weakness that I have seen in many Christians; he did not know how to say “No.” Jehoshaphat, in some ways, was too good; good to a fault. He was too kind to separate himself and his people from the wicked king of Israel. I am not suggesting he had to be at war with Israel. I am reminded that when the division first happened God instructed Rehoboam not to retaliate. Though there had been wars with Israel almost since its inception, Jehoshaphat did not have to fight him.

Yet neither did he have to consort with him. His friendly relations with Ahab left him in a compromising position when Ahab asked him to join with him in battle against Syria. I suspect that Jehoshaphat hoped the prophets would tell Ahab it was a bad idea to go to war. Instead of playing the man and saying "No", he wanted God to say it for him. But God seldom takes our stands for us. He has given us His Word and it is our duty to obey it. Jehoshaphat went so far as to ignore the one prophet who was honest enough to tell Ahab the truth.

All this compromise almost cost Jehoshaphat his life and we do not know how many of his soldiers did die because he buddied around with one he should not have. He could have benefited from Jude 1:22-23 KJV

And of some have compassion, making a difference:

And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

Paul, as an example, was certainly a loving man. The testimony of his personal sacrifice to win others and to know the Lord is evidence of the tender heart of this preacher. However when he came to Jerusalem with Titus and was approached by those with a false gospel he refused to waste an hour of his time with them saying in Galatians 2:4-5 KJV

And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:

To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

Once again, we don’t have to be mean spirited in any of our actions, but the Bible does teach us to be strong concerning our convictions and refuse to compromise with quasi-Christians, even if it feels like we will hurt their feelings in doing so.