Today is February 29th. It is an extra day added to our calendar to adjust the difference in time that it takes the earth to rotate around the sun. This is an excellent occasion to make reference to the Scripture in 2 Corinthians 6:17 that says, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” This is a summary verse of the whole sixth chapter that talks about leaping into being spiritually unique. In the early part of the chapter is a list of those things that the early Christians would face and what they need to possess to counteract the world’s attitude.
In particular, what does it mean to be separate from among them? Certainly, we can recognize what was listed in this chapter and elsewhere in the Bible as the behavior of the world. Those who do not know Christ as Savior are more likely to conform to the rudiments of the world. However, we are warned in this verse to assure ourselves we don’t fall into the same trap. Keep in mind that Christians are a new creation in Christ. They are not just nice people or good people. The Holy Spirit has remade them into a whole separate new being so that he can make use of the believer’s body as the temple of God where to dwell.
Consider the way of the world. Our universal population has deteriorated greatly from the formerly accepted way of life. Even unbelievers once recognized that the Bible was the fundamental basis for how to relate to other people. Many years ago, there was a moral and ethical flavor to society. That is not the case now in the world in which we live.
Many of us have succumbed to the temptations of Satan. We abuse ourselves with drugs. We seek to conform to the way the rest of the world lives. We dress like them. Quite often we talk like them. We wear our hair like them .We maim our bodies in the hopes of being accepted by others. We send a message to the rest of the world that we are one of their gang. The value of life has diminished greatly. The appreciation for the elderly in its wisdom is ignored. Right and wrong are blurred.
So, what does it mean to be separate from the world? We cannot let the customs, the dress, the appearance, the attitude of sinful man to be duplicated by professing Christians. These days it is very difficult to look at a person and know they are Christian. Even the wearing of a cross on a necklace has become a fad by the unbelievers and the hip-hop musicians. There is no honorable attitude toward the cross on which Jesus died.
The simplicity of this verse in Corinthians is that we must be different from the world. We must not copy their way of life. We must not allow our belief system to be invaded by them. God has given us the grand gift of eternity. The Bible refers to believers as pilgrims because we are walking through this world but are not of this world. We do not have to be prudes. We do not have to display a holier than thou attitude. However, our life must reflect the separateness that the Holy Spirit expects of us. We must ask ourselves how comfortable the Holy Spirit would be living in our bodies when we look like the world and act like the world.
The solution is very simple. Whatever has caused us to change or affected our lifestyle that could be a hindrance to someone else, we must resolve it. We must put God and others first no matter how we would like to be accepted by others. How we dress, how we act, how we think, where we go should be determined by asking ourselves if Jesus would be pleased with how we are currently living. One of the main features of the early Christian was that he was so different from the rest of the world. That became an attraction for sinners to change to be like Christ. It is our responsibility as believers to present a picture to the world that would make us look different as believers. This is not to say we must have outlandish costumes or restrictions. It is to say that we cannot draw what we would be like from the world. Our only concern should be God’s approval and not the world’s.
Christian Writer 