“But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying: “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your works. then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.”
2 Chronicles 20:37
Jehoshaphat was a good king overall, but he made the mistake of aligning himself with an evil ruler, and in this case to do business with Ahaziah. Because of this unholy alliance, God sent a message to Jehoshaphat that the Lord would cause it all to fail.
As leaders we must pay special attention to whom we partner with. The goal of whatever endeavor we pursue may be tainted by whose with whom we align. Jehoshaphat’s demise was not because building ships was evil, but because he made an unholy alliance with an evil man. We must not partner with those who do not fear God, for God will not bless what we are doing, and may even destroy it. Those with whom we partner must be godly men who will do what is right. Aligning ourselves with the wrong people will bring the wrong result and fail to bring glory to God. Evil people will influence the work in an unrighteous way and could even cause us to compromise our integrity. “Come out from among them and be separate” (2 Corinthians 6:17). God’s leaders must think and act differently than their counterparts in the world. Just as oil and water do not mix, so those walking in the ways of God cannot mix with those in the world. If there is a ‘mix’ occurring it is because of ungodly compromise.
In these last days strong Christian leaders are encouraging many to “work with” or “partner with” people of other faiths to make a better world. Their intentions may be good, but their methods are dangerous. The primary goal of Christianity is to turn men toward God through Jesus Christ. Working together with Muslims or any other non-Christian faith can only be done when the “Cross of Christ” is taken out of the equation. The goal becomes the making of a better world without the Cross. As Christian leaders we must love all people of all faiths but never compromise our message to accommodate some false notion of unity. We must never sacrifice truth on the altar of love, but always speak the truth in love—even at the risk of causing offense.
Have you made any relationships, partnerships, or allies that may be causing you to compromise the truth of the Cross of Christ? If so, how will you change this?
