In II Corinthians 5:1-21 (I encourage you to read it), we find one of the most compelling, encouraging and even demanding passages in all of Scripture concerning evangelism. The apostle Paul makes it undoubtedly clear that, since we have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, we are to persuade others with this same message of reconciliation. We have been given an ambassadorship, a commission by God, to represent Him and His kingdom in this foreign land.
What an indescribable privilege this is!
But chapter 6 follows chapter 5 (betcha didn't know that). And chapter 6 carries out this application further in the life of the Christian. In II Corinthians 6:14-18, Paul gives a warning. This warning is to God's people. To those same people who, just moments before, he was charging to go and be ambassadors. And what is this warning? To separate from them.
Separate from them? Who is them? "Them" is unbelievers. So, he has said both "be my ambassadors to them" and "separate from them"?
The Holy Spirit, through the man Paul, directs the reader and believer of God's Word to separate from unbelievers. God says that there is to be no "yoking", no "partnership", no "fellowship", no "accord", no "portion", and no "agreement" with unbelievers. Why? Because they are unclean, that's why.
"Preacher, that's harsh", you might be thinking to yourself, "That's pretty divisive language". And you are right. It is harsh. It is divisive. But it is harsh and it is divisive from the very Spirit of God, not from me, or from Paul or from anyone else. From God.
Now, putting two and two together, you are thinking, "If we have been commissioned as ambassadors, then how can we reconcile the unclean to God while remaining separate from them?" That is a great question and we will strive to answer it in (2) parts -
First, we must remain clean ourselves. To do this, we must keep our distance. We keep our distance from unbelievers by not inviting or permitting them into positions of influence in our lives. We give God the primary position in our lives by allowing His Word to dictate who we "yoke" ourselves to or who we "partner" with.
Second, we must love the unclean. We are commanded to. We wish no ill toward them. In fact, we pray for them, through tears even. We love them so deeply, and we are so concerned for their eternal souls, that we desire nothing from them for our benefit, but only long for them to be reconciled to God as we are. We speak the truth of the gospel of Jesus unashamedly to them and we trust that the Spirit will accomplish His work in their hearts and minds.
This is what we do. And we trust this approach, whether or not it makes practical sense to us, because we have been commanded by God.
You see, the "best of both worlds" approach (where we remain friends with God and friends with the world) is just a figment of our imagination. We want to have it so badly that we convince ourselves it is real, but in reality, it doesn't exist (James 4:4). The pull of sin is too strong and we are too weak. If we remain close to it for very long, it will overwhelm us, destroying both us and our witness. We will be left with nothing.
What we must come to understand, through Scripture, is that it is our "withdrawing", our "separating" from the world that speaks volumes to that world who, most assuredly, is watching us. When we separate from them and they know we have done it, they may hate us for it, but it also compels them to be introspective...to examine themselves. It is then that they are ripe for the Spirit of God to convict them of sin and to reveal God's offer of righteousness to them.
So, let's do it! Let's "go out from their midst". Let's pray for them with an unshakeable faith. And, like the Puritan preacher Richard Baxter, let's preach to them, "as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men."
Pastor Jeremy |
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