Quote:
Originally Posted by David
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18
What do you think? Do you think these verses mean not to associate with willingly unbelievers?
|
Given that there is no equivalent command in this kind of wording given by Christ, I think you have to be careful that you are not over-applying what Paul is writing here. What is clear is that it is
not clear exactly what he is talking about. But as I read it, I get the sense of something much deeper than merely associating.
The real key is in the word "yoked." The obvious parallel is two oxen or other beasts of burden joined in a common task. Now this could not mean that we are charged to not have jobs with unbelievers because Paul and Peter (if not others) went to great lengths to talk about how a slave is to obey an unbelieving master in a completely righteous way (among other relationships). So that is not what it is talking about. It would seem from the wording and context that this is something concerning actual things of pagan worship or of trying to have Christian fellowship with someone who is simply not Christian (and openly so).
But so much of life is not "Christian fellowship," therefore not really within what seems to be the scope of the passage. You can work with any of them. You can buy from them, sell to them. You can ride in an airplane piloted by them. And so on.
But there is still something troubling about the notion of trying to discern whether someone who calls them self a Christian and undertakes the life of a Christian is actually, in fact, a Christian. This may be getting a little too deep into trying to figure out whether that plant growing beside you is actually wheat or weeds. Jesus said to let them grow together and it would be sorted out in the end. If you are trying to figure it out now, then you are trying to get a head start on what Jesus says is reserved for the judgment. If you find that somehow fellowship is off, or somehow worthy of some kind of restraint, then maybe Paul's "mark them out" or "refuse them" might be in order. But even in that case, it is not about discerning their status as a Christian, but as a teacher. The problem may be deeper and they may not actually be Christian.
But there is so much concerning how to behave righteously toward everyone, even our enemies. And you come across this one passage by Paul about being unequally yoked and you feel the need to figure out if those Baptists are really Christian (hypothetically)? I don't think he was talking about those who otherwise appear to be insiders, but those who are clearly not. And not concerning whether we bestow on them the same love that we have for ourselves (and just below the love we have for God). Only that we should know that we do not have Christian fellowship with such ones. Not a quarantine. Just one area where we don't speak the same language.