We are probably one of the most connected generations of all time, we can talk to people from all over the world on our phones, we can send emails, Face Time and text messages, we live in a world that seeks connection, wants communion, preaches peace and tolerance and loves diversity. A world united in love is the political dream of our time.
And many churches and Christians eventually swallow it. We will unite all religions under one roof. Let’s forget our differences. Basically, we’re all the same, aren’t we? We’re not going to highlight our differences. Let’s focus on what brings us together. However, this goes against Paul’s words in the church in 2 Corinthians 6. 14: “Don’t be under an unequal yoke with the unbelievers. “
- He’s not very affectionate.
- Is he? In the first half of verse 17.
- Is it more categorical?Do you part with them?.
- Sounds a little bigoted.
- Doesn’t it? Doesn’t sound affectionate.
- However.
- This type of language is present throughout the Bible.
- James 4:4 is also strong: “Infidels.
- Do you not understand that the friendship of the world is the enemy of God?So who wants to be friends with the world is God’s enemy?Then what’s going on here?How can we live as Christians and be separated from the world?Should I think about buying land in the desert and creating a Christian community?.
When Paul wrote these words, the church of Corinth was in disarray, so-called Christians were involved in flagrant sins and in any kind of moral and theological commitment, Paul wanted to remind them that a relationship with Jesus must be exclusive. for example, Christians could not pretend to worship Jesus and visit temple prostitutes who were common in Corinth in the first century.
To show his point of view, Paul asks five questions in a row: “What society can be between justice and wickedness?Or what communion, of light and darkness?Or what union, between the believer and the disbeliever?What is the connection between God’s sanctuary and idols?(2Co 6. 14-16).
The expected answer to these questions is None?Christians live to please God, the unbelievers live to please themselves.
Christians are called to walk in the light, the unbelievers walk in the dark. Colossus 1. 13 put it this way: [God] delivered us from the empire of darkness and transported us to the kingdom of the Son of his love?Jesus is the light of the world, and believers are drawn to him like moths for a candle, but not for the rest of humanity, do they love darkness more than light, because their evil deeds are?(Jo 3:19).
But is it really true that a believer and a disbeliever have nothing in common?Some Christians feel they have more in common with the disbelievers than with other church members. They support the same sports team. They have the same politics, they like the same TV shows, but Paul doesn’t talk about what we have in common as people in general, he speaks spiritually. If Jesus has nothing in common with Satan, then God’s children have nothing in common with Satan’s children. A non-Christian doesn’t see the world like we do. We value spiritual truths and spiritual things, and they care about the material and this world. They don’t live thinking about the afterlife.
Does Paul remember us in Ephesians 4:17? 19
That is why I say this and testify in the Lord that you no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the vanity of your own thoughts, obscured in understanding, oblivious to the life of God by the ignorance in which you live, by the hardness of your hearts, which, numb, have been committed to dissolution to commit with desire all kinds of impurities.
So what does all this mean?How would we achieve the Great Commission without a deep relationship with the disbelievers?I had all kinds of trouble going out and eating with sinners. In 1 Corinthians 5, the commandment is not to associate with someone who claims to be a Christian, but who lives like a disbeliever. We need more true Christians who want to have friendships with disbelievers, not least the problem is that if we don’t separate ourselves from them?Christians? Right, our testimony will be aggrieved.
Some Christians believe that the answer to worldly life is to shop in Christian shops, go to Christian hairdressers and go on Christian holidays; then they wonder why they have trouble evangelizing the unbelievers; others think that going out for a drink or going out with the disbelievers show them how calm we are is the way forward. I do not know anyone who has been converted by this kind of “ministry”, but I know countless Christians who have contaminated their testimonies with drunkenness and immorality.
So how do I know if I’m in a situation that means I have to completely separate myself from someone who’s not a believer?Here are some things to consider.
When I am with these disbelievers, am I tempted and end up falling into sinful behavior?
When I am with non-Christians, do I defend the Bible and christian lifestyle or keep my head down and follow the flow so as not to offend?
Do the friendships and relationships I have bring me closer to Jesus or distract me more?
Of course, we can be friends with non-Christians, but we will never share spiritual intimacy with someone who does not recognize Jesus as King and Lord. We want to live a clear Christian life before the world that looks at us.