Mixing and Matching? 2 Cor 6:14-7:1 WBC 26/5/5pm
I had an incredible dream! 3 people (Robin, Liz and I ) were in heaven. Robin had a monkey on his shoulders, bashing him on the head . I asked the angel "why?". Angel replied "he started off well , walked true and straight.... but later on he made a monkey of himself- and this monkey will remind him of that. Liz person had an ape on her shoulders. I asked the angel "why?". he said "She started of well, walked true and straight... but later on she made an ape of herself- and this ape will remind her of that. I thought- oh, okay!- because in this dream I had the most beautiful girl on my arm! Even more beautiful than Pam (if that were possible). I asked the angel "why? I mean I know I’ve been goooooood, and served Jesus!" The angel replied: "she started off well... walked true and straight......!!"
MIXING AND MATCHING- WHAT?
Well- what’s it talking about, here? Mixing what? Not being ’yoked together with unbelievers’- how?
Frequently you will find this applied primarily to courting and marriage (start perspiring now!) because
- we like hammering people in these areas. Classic stuff. Gets a good response
o but I have to admit- I don’t take pleasure in that kind of stuff because- I think if I were better at reaching men for Jesus some of my friends wouldn’t have the tensions, issues and REAL PAIN that they do.
" I feel that pain.
o No. I am not quick to point the finger.
o (though, let me clearly establish that Paul makes out that if you are looking to marry someone they ’should belong to the Lord’. 1 Cor 7:39)
- another reason marital/courting relationships are a common topic choice here is because of the word used which is literally ’mismated’
But actually the word doesn’t have to do with ’mating’ in that sense
- it has to do with ’mixing and matching’
- it’s the word used elsewhere about yoking 2 different animals together (in the Gk OT LXX, Lev 19:1(
- mixing them so they can’t plough
Old Paul is obviously telling us not to get mixed up in certain kind of partnerships with unbelievers. In fact to LEAVE them, now! But what kind of partnering? Mixing?
WORLD- with the WORLD? Unbelievers in general. Friendships with them?
- "come ye out from them and only have Christian friends!" Is that what he means?
- Wouldn’t that contradict 1CO 5:9 I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-- 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.
o No- there he is talking about people who say they are Christians! (who are more inconsistent than unbelievers!)
- And wouldn’t it contradict Jesus’ desire that we be ’salt and light’- which infers that we ARE different, set-apart (Gk holy, saint), but THERE with them.
o (classically- in the world but not of it)
No- it can’t be telling us to not have friendships with unbelievers
WEDDED- is it primarily talking about marriage? "Don’t marry an unbeliever"
- that might end up coming from here by wisdom and inference- but it can’t be the relationships he is primarily talking about
- why is that? Paul says "leave that kind of relationship, now"
o nowhere does the Bible approve of that. In fact THAT understanding of this text would contradict what Paul said earlier to the same guys in 1 Cor 7:12
1CO 7:12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
1CO 7:15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so
No- he’s not talking about marriage and courting here, primarily.
WORK- how about work? Is he talking that we shouldn’t have business partnerships with unbelievers? "And if you do- quit now!"
- well. Some do need to quit their jobs because they are being compromised/tainted by the morals of their colleagues/employers
- Illustr: it’s crazy that Christians should be so crypto at work! Chatting with someone recently who once it was known they were a Christian this other bloke wanted to say again and again ’I am too!’, while in the boardroom they had always been the most ’creative’ with the truth and their method was to withhold paying contractors etc as long as possible ’for the sake of the company’! In spite of them going bankrupt! (there was no evidence of their faith)
- So let’s not make out ’Christians’ are the best in business/employment! We often abuse people. There is a difference between ’Christians’ and ’disciples’!
- But is this talking about that? Wouldn’t it contradict JTBs’ words to tax collectors and soldiers:
LK 3:12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?"
LK 3:13 "Don’t collect any more than you are required to," he told them.
LK 3:14 Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?"
He replied, "Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely--be content with your pay."
- and Jesus didn’t tell the centurion to leave his godless employers… nor Joanna and Cuza (the manager of Herod’s household) to leave (if Cuza were a disciple)
- and surely Paul sold a few tents to ’unbelievers’?
So- what compromising relationships… partnering… mixing of unequal bodies is he talking about? That they should leave NOW
WORSHIP
Surely he is reiterating what he stated in 1 Cor. In 1 Cor 10:14. Where ’Christians’ were partnering up with others in pagan practice.
- it wasn’t about food sacrificed to idols (as in v19 he says ’that’s nothing’)
- it was the fact that they were getting into idolatrous practices! They were really worshipping idols!
o They were partnering with people in participation of worship of other things… gods
o They were mixing and matching their faith and worship!
And if that isn’t a word for today I don’t know what is!
- a little bit of this, a little bit of that
Paul hits this nut with a huge hammer and names the two ’chiefs’ on either side… behind this relationship. Behind what they do…follow
- it’s Christ…. and Belial
That’s what he says ’you must leave now’. ’Leave it, drop it. Do it. Come out and be holy’
- you can’t worship two God’s. One God only.
- You can be friends with these people who do-but you can’t YOKE with them, join with them in it!
MIX AND MATCH- SO WHAT?
The basis of the thing that needs protecting is your relationship with God. Everything else springs from that.
- don’t give up what you have and dilute it with something that is not the real thing
Illustr: I’ve had the privilege, recently of helping in the lives of some lovely folks who are really part of today’s ’spiritual culture’. Very spiritual, but without reference to God. It’s healing and helping. It’s meditation and mediumship. It’s chakras, crystals and channelling. It’s pressure points, angels and powers. It’s astrology, and it’s about ME.
- but it doesn’t come up with the goods! What a mess their lives are in! Because it’s a-moral… there is no reference point. So- you meditate: but you can do it in whoever’s bed you like. (because that doesn’t matter)
- DON’T be fooled! It looks attractive but it’s a poor substitute. It does NOT make the characters Jesus does.
Okay, Ewen, so you’re not bashing about who I can go out with- but you are bashing anything New Age?!
- no. It’s not as simple as that! I think there are things we can learn from them. I don’t think all herbal medicines are wrong… nor necessarily the science of acupuncture etc
- it’s the SPIRIT that is behind it. When it is spiritual but not Jesus. Good but not God. Done without devotion, reference, submission to the LORD. It’s when it becomes superstitious baloney.
You have to stay focussed on worshipping God through Jesus. Only.
- you can’t mix and match. Can’t mix the object of your devotion.
It’s a warning against trying to be a follower of Jesus and worshipping at the throne of
- Health. Beauty. Sport. Cars. Clothes. Church. Certain worship songs. Women. Men. Or getting one. Money.
o These are the modern day ’idols’
o THIS is the application of this passage!
And you must flee anything that destroys your soul, and/or puts Jesus in second place
- you can’t yoke up with Jesus and Belial. Only Jesus can be on the throne.
- It means leaving that job where the time, energy, money has become your idol, now
- That lifestyle that is calling you- but will cripple you. You know it.
- That boyfriend who will take you away from the Lord
o What good is it if you gain the whole world, and lose your faith?! End in sadness and maybe divorce?
o (without it becoming an idol- do all you can to pursue a Christian partner: Oakhall it, network, go to Bible college!)
It’s a whole lot broader than work, women, weddings, world… and it’s a whole lot more demanding:
- it’s ANYTHING that takes you away from Jesus.
o Or you can end up ’starting well, true and straight’ but having a yoke/faith that goes nowhere.
- It’s Jesus plus or minus anything. The yoke over Him plus a bit of….. whatever.
"Whatever you love most, serve most, seek out most, give to the most, worship the most, and care about the most is your god.
Your "god" can be your career, your bank account, the way you look, a particular position or degree, influence, power, or physical pleasure. It can even be something that is considered intrinsically good, yet you allow it to dominate your life more than God - such as your marriage or your family. Your "god" is whatever you allow to control you, to be the ultimate guide to decision making, the place of your supreme loyalty, and the source of your self-worth."
SOURCE: James Emery White, You Can Experience an Authentic Life, p. 2.
And the people? You can be friends with them but not ’soul mates’
- come out from yoking with them and their practices and God promises
o v17. "I will receive you"
o v18 "I will be a Father to you"
Because "without holiness no one will see the Lord" (and that’s what separation is)
Songs: purify my heart.
O for a closer walk with God
