A Different "Coming Out"

Paul wrote to the church at Corinth about not being "unequally yoked with unbelievers" (2 Cor 6:14-15) (as opposed to "unequally yolked," which involves eggs¹, I think). We often think of that as not marrying an unbeliever, and that would certainly fall in that category, but it's so much more. To be "yoked" is to be tied together to do a task. It requires a binding of some sort (a yoke) and a task of some sort (like a marriage or a business venture). Instead, Paul says,

Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty. (2 Cor 6:17-18)

So ... here's the real question. What does this look like in biblical Christianity?

Paul is quoting Isaiah 52:11, where Israel is told to leave Babylon without carrying its idols. In 2 Corinthians, he applies that imagery to the church living inside a pagan empire. The separation he describes is not geographical but relational, ethical, and worship-based. This separation is separation from idolatry, where “idolatry” means anything that substitutes for God. It’s not separation from people; it’s anything that demands our allegiance. Our “idols” today are nationalism, consumerism, identity-as-self-creation, political absolutism … on and on. This separation is separation from moral compromise. It’s not moral superiority, but refusing to practice things that … deform the soul. Paul lists some in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, but there are a lot more. It’s not that we’re “holier than thou.” It’s that we’re separated from the things God forbids for our best, things like sexual sins, injustice, ethnic division, murder (in and out of the womb), etc. This separation is separation from false sources of identity … not bound by relationships that define us like tribe or political party or nation. Our identity is defined now in Christ, and we must not succumb to the world’s alternative identities which flourish all around us. Finally, this separation is a separation for a different purpose. It is separation for mission, not merely for escape. Jesus prayed, “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). We aren’t withdrawing; we’re standing in the thick of it for Christ. We’re “set apart” by God to do a job here in this world without being part of this world.

Here’s where it gets practical. Christians have always wrestled with how to live “in but not of” the world. Today’s landscape is different, but the patterns are surprisingly consistent. We are to be morally distinct, having sexual integrity, honesty, generosity, forgiveness … living a different ethic. We are to be a countercultural community, a people belonging to and shaped by Christ, including a deep church life, mutual care, shared fellowship. We are to reject a consumerist identity and live more simply. We must reject a political identity and recognize the divide between politics and faith, not fusing gospel to party identity. We must avoid partnerships – marital, economic, personal – that compromise our allegiance to Christ. Our lives should be shaped and defined by self-sacrificing worship (Rom 12:1). Our speech should be distinctive, refusing slander and outrage, for instance, and, instead, speaking the truth in love. Biblical separation is not about distance from the world, but difference within it. It isn’t about monastic withdrawal or culture wars or moral superiority or “the right candidate.” It’s about our identity as followers of Christ that shapes how we present ourselves and engage with our world to the glory of God.
________

¹ A sidenote. If the yellow part of an egg is a “yolk” (as opposed to a “yoke”), what is the white part called? A little trivia game here as a bonus.