2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore, come out from them and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. This seems to me to go against what Jesus said about loving others, and doesn’t make sense in light of the fact that Jesus walked in the world and touched the dirtiest people society had to offer. So, what does it mean? Here’s Chuck Smith’s (a pastor) take on it: So, God’s call for His people to separation. You are to be different from the world. You cannot have real communion with the world. You have no common ground of meeting. You’re trying to bring two diverse situations together. You’re trying to join together the life of the flesh with the life of the Spirit. They cannot co-mingle. It’s an unequal yoke. So, God’s call for you is to come apart. “Be separate, saith the Lord. Don’t touch the unclean thing. And God said, I will be a Father, and ye will be my sons and daughters.” As a child of God, you do live different than a person who is not a child of God. You’re expected to live differently. This makes a lot of sense. As children of God, it’s not that we’re physically going to separate ourselves and live in little communes. Jesus didn’t do that. He lived among us and walked among us and talked to people, ate with sinners, played with children, and healed the sick and dying. He didn’t get away from people and live all by himself in the wilderness. Instead, he lived differently than the people. He didn’t sin the way people sin (even the righteous sin). He didn’t lie or cheat or steal. He wasn’t violent (remember how he healed the man’s ear after Peter cut it off with a sword?). He lived differently and that set Him apart from the world. So we are to follow Jesus’ example and live differently. We should try to live like Jesus did – loving others and doing what is right. My husband has to struggle with that a lot. Yesterday he felt like he was being asked by a client to do something that he didn’t feel was right or moral, and while he was discussing the situation with the people he is working for he offered to give up the contract even though we really do need the money. When they saw how serious he was about doing things right, they decided to back him up against the client that was asking him to be dishonest. I was so proud of him!!! That’s not an easy choice to make! Anyhow, God doesn’t want us to never associate with lost people. If we never talked to them or walked among them then how will they ever know who Jesus is? How will they hear if we don’t go (it says that somewhere in the Bible)? So, it’s not about staying away from people who don’t know Jesus, it’s about doing life differently and being set apart in our morals and actions. Chuck Smith does make a good point, though, about not making an unbeliever our best friend. Our best friends tend to have a lot of influence in our lives because we tell them our deepest thoughts and listen to their counsel. So, that’s a good point. But it doesn’t mean that you don’t ever associate or hang out with non-believers. You just have to be wise and thoughtful in your actions.
2 Corinthians 5:16 So we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, as though he were merely a human being. How differently I think about him now! The first part of this verse caught my attention. It’s a good reminder that we are called, by Christ, to stop judging people by the way others see them. Jesus loved people. He loved them whether they were good or bad, whether they were tax collectors (who were horribly hated) or adulterous women (a crime that carried a death penalty) or everyday citizens. The world judges people by what they look like or what they do or how they live. Even if we totally disagree with that part of their lives, Jesus still loves them. And we should to. We don’t have to love their actions or their lifestyle, but we should love them and accept them and try to be Jesus with skin on (showing them His love). Jesus never condemned people (except for the religious leaders – isn’t that ironic?). We shouldn’t either. I can hear you now – but Jesus was God! He was super-human. It was easy for Him to do that. Maybe. He was in a human body with human emotions. And even if he did have an easy time doing that, it’s His strength that He gives us that help us to be like Him. We’re not in this alone. God loves us. We should love others. The end.
1 Corinthians 10:31 Whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, you must do all for the glory of God. I’m starting a new semester today at my job. And because we’re on block scheduling, one of my classes will be completely new and the other two will be a little mixed up with new students. It’s always a little nerve-wracking walking in on that first day of class to discover what those students will be like. Last semester my kids were, for the most part, great. I had a good time teaching them. I’m hoping and praying the same for this semester. Sometimes it’s really hard to remember to do things that glorify God when I get frustrated with my students. There are a lot of times when I don’t show God’s love very well. And especially with my students, many of whom come from families where they don’t see their parents much or don’t have a parent to live with, I may be the only person who cares about them during the day. That’s sad and scary, especially when I get irritated and am short with them. So, as I start this new day with new students (mostly), I’m praying that God would give me a supernatural love for my students, exceptional patience, and joy in the students that I have this semester. I’m also praying that I would truly be “Jesus with skin on” for my students and show them the love that Jesus showed me. … And if you’re a praying person, would you mind praying that, too?