“Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-15 NLT)
Dr. Henry Cloud wrote a piece for Success magazine 10 Things Successful People Never Do Again predicated on the idea that we have to change to progress. We must allow ourselves some pretty radical changes if we are to evolve in our life-journey. The Holy Spirit will lead us into the destiny that God is guiding us to in our distinct lives according to His higher values.
Chose your yoke-fellows wisely. The Scripture commands all Christians not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers? This scripture applies to marriage, business partnership, and church alignment. Paul offers profound insights into relationships. He writes out of both love and pain, about severing relationships and mending them. He writes in a way that is decidedly centered on God, as seen in the person of Christ. Paul is humble and meek; he is bold and adamant. Moses made it clear to the Israelites that ungodly influence can lead God’s people astray: “Be very careful never to make a treaty with the people who live in the land where you are going. If you do, you will follow their evil ways and be trapped…for the LORD…is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you” (Exodus 34:12-14 NLT)
Why is it important to cut your ties with darkness? When Paul says, “Do not be unequally yoked,” he means first, that we should not associate with believers who don’t actually live for Jesus, and second, that engaging in any intimate relationship or partnership with someone who does not let Jesus be the center of their lives will ultimately lead to our demise. We must cut ties with whatever or whoever leads us to darkness. Influence can be subtly corrupting. “For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. “Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord…and, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:16-18 NIV)
Wasn’t Jesus loving? Christ engaged with people who didn’t understand who He was while on earth, to reach out to people and reveal the love of God. Nevertheless, He didn’t want to see relationships with unbelievers lead His followers into darkness. The Corinthian believers were to change the world, not to be changed by it. Paul wanted to see the Corinthian believers separate from their old way of living and fully embrace the ways of Jesus. Thus, his question which applies to all Christians today: How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?
Kindness versus close or intimate relations with non-believers must be understood in context. For more depth on this subject read Influencing others for Christ.
But this is complicated. False teachers and leaders are even within the church; old friends can turn on you and become your enemies, and there are broken relationships among the followers of our Lord. There may be things in the Bible that are very clear to one following the Lord closely adhering to the Word, to form correct doctrine while desiring to live according to Sola Scriptura. Within the church, some follow a man or a woman, who some may feel they have prophetic insight (who may say or write: “God told me” or “my angel said”). However, we must follow only the Lord’s teaching found in the Word of God and never follow a teaching that the Bible does not condone.
Consider that the educated doctorates of Israel did not believe the teachings of Jesus though He was their Messiah. The scripture regarding cutting our ties with darkness was written by Paul of Tarsus to the Corinthians. Paul had been one of the leading Pharisees (named Saul). He was a leading doctorate student taught by Dr. Gamaliel. He turned from the darkness of twisting scripture to follow Jesus Christ as did the Pharisee Nicodemus.
