Come Out From Among Them

And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” [2 Corinthians 6.16-18]

You know, we really need to be careful in regard to this passage. I say "in regard" because, for the most part, we give it no regard at all.

God NEVER intended for His people to blend in with the world.

Let me repeat for clarity: God NEVER intended for His people to blend in with the world.

There are a few things that make us all distinctly human, we live and breathe and carry on enterprise, and there are a couple things we all have in common that are beyond our knowledge: the day we are born and the day we die. It would be impossible therefore for us to separate ourselves from humanity in these things.

There are other things, however, that far too many "believers" share in common with "unbelievers" that I believe fall within the scope of what Paul addressed in 2 Corinthians 6.16-18 above. Before addressing those things though, we should consider what it is about God that makes His influence upon our lives unique. Because God can only define Himself (we could never do it), we should then only consider Who He Is in accordance to what He has said about Himself! So, let's start there.

God replied to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations. [Genesis 3.14-15]

The first thing believers and unbelievers should be distinctly in contrast about is the very concept of God and His control over EVERYTHING (He is I AM). To believe God created everything is to reject any notion otherwise. To believe God created everything is to accept that He is therefore the source of everything as Creator. And here is where the divide between believer and unbeliever should be seen, but is not.

We are all familiar with producers today who manufacture and sell their products to various retailers in that retailer's own packaging with that retailer's own product name. It is possible that two different products can sit beside each other on a store shelf and be the exact same product but only packaged, named and priced differently.

Stay with me...

Idols are fake from the very beginning. The whole premise of idolatry is to take glory away from God. For everything God said He Is and Does, idols offer their own package. God created life itself, but idolatry packages life in a "different package" claiming a different source. Idolatry however is not content to just pass on "life" but goes so far as to re-define it (and, why not since the restraints God put upon how to live life would not be revealed). Consequently, life as God presented it, is masked, and instead presented in all manner of perverted forms that are naturally unsustainable at best.

Another idol that is grossly overlooked by believers today is Medicine. Healing is uniquely God's business as He defined Himself as "Healer." The retailer "Medicine" however has "packaged" healing and recovery (that God is the ONLY source of) labeling their goods as highly advanced and technical (scientific), and, as we saw in recent years during the COVID pandemic, even went so far as to tout their superiority over "prayer" (or God).

The idols our current society is laced with are many. I've mentioned a couple here because they are profound in their flagrant corporate and general denial of God. A list of idols could be long, but suffice it to say we should pay particular attention to critical areas of our lives including money and insurance that promise security God said He Himself is the Provider of.

So, what is a believer to do? We could say (as we have all become so accustomed to), "Well, God uses these things..." But Paul was very clear to the contrary:

Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. [2 Corinthians 6.17]

It's like we have no wings, are standing on a high cliff and are being told to jump! I wish it weren't this way, but after years and years and years of crafty and deceptive re-labeling everything God said He Is and would do for us, the world has stolen an inordinate amount of God's rightful glory. And, it was no mistake! Nothing tops Satan's agenda more than re-directing our faith away from God and to idols.

Just think about it... That's all I am saying... The gross powerlessness of believers today must be accounted for. 

You can't get wet if you are standing inside out of the rain.

Father, may Your Word take precedence over every other "retailer" we encounter every day. May we stand fast in the fact that You are Creator, Healer, Provider, Protector, and countless other benefits to our lives. Give us eyes to see where idols have re-labeled Your benefits as their own and twisted them in the process making unsustainable claims and denying You altogether. Help us to come out from among them!