Unyoked

Audio version here

2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? NIV



Sometimes Paul reminds me of Ezra and Nehemiah in the Old Testament. They were the messengers of God who ‘purified’ the Jewish people by casting out foreigners from their community. Men, women and children were all thrown out of Jerusalem if they did not have “pure” blood in them. Paul does the equivalent here by insisting that unbelievers and Christians should never be partnered or yoked together. Paul wants to keep the faith pure; he doesn’t want any ‘outsiders’ influencing the church.

Over the centuries, this scripture has been used to shun outsiders and isolate the church from the popular community. It’s been emphasized by spiritual elitists who have used it to promote racism, abuse, and intolerance all over the world. Whatever Paul originally intended, his words have been used to justify lynching blacks, destroying families, killing Jews, and even promoting White supremacy. I wonder if Paul realized what his words would one day represent, would he have retracted them from this letter?

It seems to me that Jesus had a different mission from Paul. Jesus was constantly surrounded by unbelievers, sinners, and outcasts. His ministry tended to reach out to those who were unholy and He sanctified them (made them holy) with His love, mercy, and grace. There was nothing elite about Jesus; there was nothing that suggested supremacy. In fact, we are constantly reminded by Paul of all people that Christ humbled Himself to come among us. The Sinless One came to save sinners. The Perfect One came to die for the imperfect. The Holy Son of God came to make unholy people sons, daughters, and heirs of God’s Kingdom.

Today, we are all going to meet other people. When we do, let’s try to reach out with grace and love, tolerance and mercy. It’s not going to be easy, especially when we come across folk who are radically different from us, but with practice we will learn the art of tolerance, love, unity and peace. And aren’t those goals worthy of our Savior? Aren’t those qualities why the Church exists?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to get out of our spiritual comfort zones and reach out to those who are on the ‘outside’ of Your church. Grant us the courage to get along beside them to offer them help in times of trouble, cheer in times of gladness, and love in times of fear and uncertainty. Remind us that we were all unbelievers at one point in our lives and that without someone reaching out to us, we would never have known of Your acceptance, forgiveness, grace, and love. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.