separation/ unequally yoked

Pastor Chet, Certainly this applies in marriage and business. I also would not socialize with those living in sin (yes I know everyone sins but I think this terminology is clear and easily understood in this context).

On this board, I am very torn. I'm shocked at the thought process of so called Christian's and am praying for guidance about responding to their posts.

Diane

 

I am no more unequally yoked when I post on the BB than I am when I shop where others who do not believe the same way I do shop.

I am equally yoked to my husband and I have no other yoke except the one that Jesus wants me to have.

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:29,30

 

Pastor Chet, would you rescind your church membership if you found out the congregation had been fooled by an unbeliever, and voted to approve his membership?

 

This is something I have been wrestling with over the past several weeks.

Going to a certain bank has nothing to do with my spirituality or my identity as a believer in Christ or my Christian witness.

Going to a porno store would.

If I attended a certain church where promiscuity is promoted, then I would have to not attend that church because promiscuity is in direct conflict with God's Word. It would tarnish my witness for Jesus Christ to participate and be a member of such a church, as by being a member, I would be identified as holding to the same beliefs and doctrine. So I would have to separate.

I believe when God says we are not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers and tells us to come out from among them & be ye separate, that is for:

1. Our own good, so we can concentrate on things that are pure and lovely.

2. So the world will see there is a difference between truth and apostasy and false prophets, etc., and the lines don't get blurred and the areas don't become gray.

3. So we will not be casting our pearls before swine.

4. So we can truly fellowship & be edified as a body.

5. To do less is to cast aspersion on Who Jesus truly is, His Righteousness, and What He has done to Redeem Us.

Just some thoughts as I ponder these issues under the Truth of the Word & the Conviction of the Holy Spirit. Not meant for sermonizing.

 

I agree with Dr Bob. The calling of being equally yoked referrs to close personal relationships, not casual relationships. Otherwise, I'd be unequally yoked every time I ate at a chinese restaurant, or watched an episode of "Donnie & Marie".

 

The difference between entering a solemn covenant with an unbeliever (such as marriage or business partnership) and being the 1,897th person to join an Internet discussion board ought to be self-evident.

 

Is there such a thing as "guilty by association?"


Or....

One entry found for complicity.


Main Entry: com·plic·i·ty
Pronunciation: k&m-'pli-s(&-)tE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -ties
Date: circa 1656
1 : association or participation in or as if in a wrongful act
2 : an instance of complicity




What about avoiding the "very appearance" of evil?

Could that be perceived as condoning evil?

[ July 04, 2003, 08:32 AM: Message edited by: SheEagle9/11 ]

 

No. It sounds like you are having problems with this issue, yet you are still posting.

I am a member of my church and I'm sure, as large as my church is, that there is at least one unsaved person there. That is not being unequally yoked.

I cannot tell if a person at my church is unsaved by looking at them. Neither can I tell if a poster on the BB is unsaved by reading their posts.


Sue

 

Pastor Chet asked:

Where in scripture does it say being unequally yoked is only through a solemn covenant?

How am I "yoked" to the BB at all? Yoking implies some kind of formal bond.

But I am not bound to the BB. I am not breaking any agreement with the BaptistBoard admins if I post to another board, or if I tell someone else about something I read here. I can post here every day, or I can go away for as long as I want, even permanently, and I have broken no bond.

In fact, my only obligation to the BB is to follow the rules while I am here.

There is an order of magnitude of difference between signing up for a discussion board and being married or partnered in business. As I said, this ought to be self-evident. Apparently not.

 

Pastor Chet: I did share my opinion...twice. And many have given scriptures to show what 'unequally yoked' means Biblically.

You seem to always come back with a rebuttal. That is why I thought you might be having a personal stuggle with this.

I apologize if I read your posts wrong.


Sue

 

Dear Pastor Chet (BB Member #5589) ,

This is a subjective matter in terms of the correspondence in meaning of the biblical term "yoked" and the 21st century term "member".

In particular Paul is making an allusion to the Torah mandate:
Deuteronomy 22:10 Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.
which I take to mean from the context of Paul's admonishment: to not work with an unbeliever towards a common goal (or at very least a spiritual goal).

The area of question being around the common goal and the support I am contributing towards that goal.

So, yes there is an application for the 21 century believer even here at the BB.

Personally, I have on many occassions felt led not to get involved in many of the disputes here at the BB or felt led to simply state my opinion or conviction and let it go at that. This feeling developed over the many months I have posted here.

Other times I have been moved to "contend for the faith" without insult or innuendo concerning the individual.

So, I practice a kind of limited separation from what I evaluate to be worldy and/or fleshy practices here at the BB.
My conscience being clear that I am not unequally yoked with unbelievers (or the methods of unbelievers practiced by believers) in that I do not participate towards a common goal with them to belittle and or insult others but rather correcting or instructing them from my point of view.

Good question Pastor Chet, I have also questioned myself in this area with my contractual work relationships. I am an independent Information Technology contractor. Fortunately the Lord has only put me in one situation in which I had to refuse a bid offer because of the nature of the business (which was not evident from their name).

This is indeed subjective to the individual believer.

For instance, should a believing doctor work at a hospital where abortions are performed though he himself will not do one?

HankD

 

This is a very interesting topic. Perhaps it is worthwhile to go back to the original mention of unequal yoke and go from there. I am handicapped here by not having a Bible to consult, but, if memory serves it is in the law of Moses that God said something along the lines that when teaming animals together (for the plow, grind at the mill, pull a cart, etc), the Israelites were not to have different animals together doing a task.
Animals, teamed together to do a task I think is the key here. (Note there is no prohibition about them together in the same pen or stall.) Certainly a task in the everyday, or business world can not be what is prhibited here, but things that are supposed to be done for the Kingdom of Heaven i.e., Bible study, witnessing, prayer meetings, etc. What business would any of us have with doing any of these with a J.W., Mormon or pagan?
Perhaps this is the true meaning here.