Re-Imagining You: Bad Influence

My job as a preacher would be so much easier if the Bible asked us to do easy things.  It would be easier if it asked us to do things with which contemporary culture more or less agreed.  Better still, my preaching would be greatly simplified if the Bible always agreed with itself, if every verse seamlessly blended every other verse and wasn’t ever in tension with the others. 

Thankfully, the Bible is not easy.   It often goes against the grain of our contemporary values.  Sometimes, it even goes against the grain of itself, a particular passage stands out as difficult to reconcile with others.  Even more difficult, a text may be in great tension with the overarching biblical themes of love and grace, of the ever-expanding story of God including more people into God’s story.

 2 Corinthians 6 is a case in point.  If you have ever sang in a band or choir with other people, you know there’s always that one person whose voice just doesn’t fit in.  The rest of the group will blend together creating this thing of beauty, this unified voice, and one person just sticks out.  Whether it’s their pitch, tone or timing, they sound like they simply don’t belong in the choir. 

To me, the words of 2 Corinthians 6 are that oddball voice that I wish would just go away.  In the gospel’s beautiful voice of inclusiveness, it stands out like the geeky kid in the glee club.  In the midst of Paul’s uplifting choruses of reconciliation and expanding the Jesus movement beyond just one ethnic group, we hear this dissonant passage of separatism.  Older translations say, “Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers.”

To our multicultural ears that sounds arrogant and judgmental.  It implies that those who hold different beliefs than ours are somehow inferior and perhaps even evil.  Few of us would want to think of ourselves that way as we are re-imaging ourselves in Christ this month.  I would suggest that grating passages such as this one, offer us the opportunity to grow deeper in our life with Jesus, move past tired clichés about inclusiveness, and empower us to be truly re-imagined in the image of Christ. 

What in the world is Paul talking about here?  In the first place, we need to know that many scholars are skeptical that Paul even wrote this passage.  It interrupts the flow of the surrounding argument and uses Greek words that are unlike his vocabulary.  Some suggest it is a later addition by a more traditional editor trying to put the lid back on the pot of the Jesus movement as it bubbled over into other cultures.

Whether that theory is correct or not, the text we have now is the text the tradition has passed on to us.  Surely, early Christians were intelligent enough to finds these words problematic. So let’s wrestle with this text, as I’m sure they did.

Does Paul really mean we should not have any contact with those who believe differently than us.  That’s unlikely, since Paul spent his ministry engaged in conversation with those who did not yet follow Jesus.  Paul was a man on a mission, a mission of reconciliation as we explored last week.  There’s no need to reconcile with people who agree with you.  He was not in favor of retreating to the desert and just waiting for God to return.  As a follower of Jesus, he was shaped by Jesus’ teachings and sayings.  Jesus taught that his followers were supposed to be like yeast that works its way into dough, like salt that spices up the world, like a the weed of mustard that spread into the culture.

Over the centuries, few Christians have used this verse to justify completely withdraw from the world. Instead, they have used it to justify very specific separations.  For instance, it has been popular to use this passage to forbid a believer from marrying an unbeliever.  This becomes problematic because of how one defines a believer versus an unbeliever.    A Christian can’t marry an atheist? Or a Muslim? Or a Jewish person?  Does that mean a Protestant can’t marry a Catholic? Or that a Baptist can’t marry a Presbyterian?  How specific do we want to get?  Can two people get married if they have a differing atonement theories or views about war?  Where is the line?  Since we live at a time when even Christians seem to be in a constant state of flux on their spiritual journey, how can we even nail down who is the “believer” in a relationship? 

Besides, depending on whether you view the world from a traditional or progressive viewpoint, interfaith marriages have some positive characteristics. Sometimes it is the so-called believer in a marriage who brings their partner around to belief by virtue of being married to them.  Additionally, interfaith marriages have increased understanding between faith groups and in some areas of the world, decreased religious persecution and violence.  Does God think that’s a bad thing?

We have to be careful on what we do with the Bible.  In my lifetime, I have heard people uses these verses to condemn interfaith and even ecumenical dialogue.  There are pastors who will not come to pastor’s lunch if a clergy person from a particular tradition are attending.  Growing up, I even heard some Christians use this passage to condemn interracial marriage.  The scary thing about that view was that it was based on the evil misconception that certain races were inferior or unequal.  So as a white person, marrying someone of another race was inherently being unequally yoked.  It is truly bizarre what Christians will do with the Bible.

At this point, we might well think this passage has nothing to teach us and we should just toss it aside.  After all, who wants to be yoked to such a potentially harmful text as this one?  Who wants an idea like this to have a voice in re-imagining ourselves in Christ?

I would suggest that we do.  We can still salvage meaning out of a passage like this.  In drawing on the imagery of the yoke, Paul was harkening back to an Old Testament passage that instructed God’s people to never yoke a donkey and an ox together.  The unequal pairing would lead to a disaster.  Picture it, the stronger animal would take over and either drag the donkey off in the wrong direction or the donkey could stubbornly dig in its heels and cause them to just go in circles.

You and I say we want to follow Jesus, but not everyone with whom we have a relationship does, or even wants to.  I believe we can still have those relationships, but we must be careful.  We must be careful that our relationships with those who believe differently than us don’t drag us off our path or cause to be stuck in endless circles of non-commitment and hand-wringing.

I have relationships with friends some of whom are from a variety of Christian traditions, some are from other faiths, and some have no faith at all.  I treasure and value that.  In our pluralistic world, I think those kinds of relationships are not just a good idea.  They are a necessity. 

When I talk to my friends who believe differently than I do, I learn much about their faith.  In our conversations, their beliefs even shed more light on my beliefs or offer a new perspective.  Sometimes their beliefs may even influence me to change my mind about something. 

But I am who I am - a follower of Jesus.  Although I gain wisdom from these relationships, I am always careful that I don’t allow myself to become the donkey who is just dragged along for the ride. (“Ooh, you believe that, let me try that”) My commitment to Christ is part of my identity and if I am seeking to be made over in his image, I cannot hand that over to anyone but him.  In all truthfulness, I expect my friends of other faiths to think the same way about their own traditions.

This passage does not only speak to us about religious matters.  Beyond issues of religion and faith, we must also be cautious about yoking ourselves to other influences as well.  You may have relationships, friends and family who hold basically the same religious beliefs as you do.  But as you re-imagine, and are re-imagined in Christ’s image, they may become an influence of unbelief.  Christ may awaken imaginings in you of a more compassionate and generous life, and your friends will tell you you can’t do it.  Perhaps you have encountered Christ here in this church, and have felt called to make some big changes in your life.  Your friends, some of whom may call themselves Christians and go to church, may be the first to tell you that you can’t change.  They may be the first to discourage you.

In that sense, they are unbelievers.  If you are yoked to them and allow their negativity and nay-saying get the upper hand in your life, you will get dragged off course or just spin in circles of indecision.  Your growth as a disciple of Jesus will lead you to do different things with your money.  If you stay true to his teachings you will inevitably buy less and give away more.  However, you may be yoked to a friend or family member, who is all about buying the biggest house or the nicest clothes.    When you start re-imagining yourself as a follower of Jesus, they will feel guilty about their own life and tell you you’re taking your faith too seriously.

Sometimes we let the wrong people in our life have the most influence over us.  Often I see people who face difficulty in their marriage or with their kids, go to the wrong people for advice.  I’m not saying you that when facing marital or parental challenges you should go to only to people who you think have perfect marriages or who you think are perfect parents. You do want to talk to people who have been through tough stuff in their relationships since they have been there.  In fact that’s one of the things being part of a church community can offer you.  Look around this room and no matter what you are going through, there is a good chance someone here has been where you are and can help.

However, when you face those difficulties you need to stay away from people who are negative about marriage or negative about their kids.  Often in talking with them, all you’re really doing is feeding your own fantasy of ditching your spouse or neglecting your children.  This troublesome text which we’ve explored today warns us to be cautious about forming relationships with negative people who would pull us off the track of believing the good things God has in store for us.

As a missional people, we are not afraid to engage the culture around us, to go anywhere or to be in conversation with anyone.  We’re not even afraid to let those encounters enrich us, enlighten us and even change us.  Yet we must always have confidence in who we are and what our purpose is.  We are followers of Jesus, agents of his kingdom and joining in God’s massive project of the reconciliation of the whole Creation.  In the end, there is only one person with whom we should be unequally yoked.  There is only one person to whom we should attach ourselves and by whom we should be lead.  That person is Jesus Christ.