2 Corinthians 6:14-18
Do Not Be Yoked with Unbelievers
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? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? 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.”
17 Therefore, “Come out from them
and be separate,
says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I will receive you.”
18 And, “I will be a Father to you,
and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.”
St. Paul tells us that we should not be yoked with a group of unbelievers...He uses the word yoke, like one would yoke two oxen or same animal-types together and that different combination of animals would not work...He is not telling us to forever avoid the non-believer, but he tells us what the constant contact and forever being yoked together can cause problems...If you are a believer there is less harmony and Light and fellowship in your discussions and in your sharing of ideas of faith and what you believe...It is difficult enough to seek and find the Truth, and learn more about Scripture without having a negative group of unbelievers around you...Embracing a group of believers is a sanctuary on earth, it is like your outpost on earth...And it seems as we live and walk in life, we live in two worlds, and we think about a third one...The third one would be heaven...
This first world might be our outpost, the one where we are yoked with a group of believers…We can tell them about our faith, our beliefs, and how we might interpret Scripture…We can tell this group most anything and everything…We can tell them how we feel about Jesus and our personal ideas about Him…There is a strong fellowship here...We are normally more open with this group...
The second world is the one outside this outpost, where we can talk about the weather and surface issues...Talking to this group and in this world is very different than talking and communicating in the first and it is one that is difficult to talk about our faith, or about Jesus and what He has done for us...It seems to me we live in this world more often than we do the first one...
Neither world is a perfect world, because we are flawed…We are flawed by sin…But the first world is one of joy, as Jesus describes joy…This is a place where you can grow your faith...This is a place where you learn about Truth, about love, and about hope -and how these virtues are connected with what you believe...