Separate? How Separate??

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. 2 Corinthians 6:16,17 NIV

We don’t take much notice of these verses these days because they don’t sit well with the popular ‘Jesus was a party person’ type of message. We try to take Scripture in a ‘pick n mix’ way, and this is one of those areas we tend to avoid picking, so it doesn’t get put into the mix.

We need to start at the beginning. The word ‘separate’ is a verb, it’s an action/doing word and is synonymous with words like ‘apart’, ‘unconnected’, ‘unrelated’, ‘different’, and so the question now becomes: How much do we want to separate ourselves to become more like the person God wants us to be? I believe we have swallowed the lie that in order to be accepted as a real and valid witness to unbelievers, we need to be more like them. We flirt with things like alcohol, tobacco, gambling, unsavoury language, and the list could go on. The result is that we see more and more Christians like the world, and not separate from it. In fact, you may know some Christians who will exhibit some or all of these characteristics, and happily keep company in groups, without any attempt at witness, of unbelievers who are not shown that there is another, and better way. How can we witness to a fundamental change of heart to people who are like us? In fact good people just like us!

So, can we please get back to basics? Let’s be different enough that others will see the ‘Jesus difference’, and also be ‘Christ-like’ enough that these same people will want to know what makes the difference. Then, and only then, will the Gospel message have a full and undiluted meaning, and we might be able to turn round the church attendance decline. Just maybe. One thing is certain however, continuing to do the same as we are doing right now will result in the same outcome. Are we happy with that?