I had been wrestling a long time with a concept I had come to think of as mixture. For instance, listening to Christian music, then listening to certain kinds of secular music, or watching clean movies, then watching not-so-clean movies, i.e., strong language, graphic violence, etc. was a form of mixture. A mixture of holy and unholy things, of things pertaining to the church and of things pertaining to the world. From studying scripture, I came to understand that every time I deny the will of God in my life concerning this issue I become an adulteress in His eyes. By each instance of watching a forbidden television program or listening to music that is without an awareness His laws on sexual purity, Im flirting with the world. James 4:4 states, Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. (KJV) Because the world acts as another potential god in our lives, prophesying to us other philosophies of life in direct contradiction to Gods, when we listen to it by yielding to, in my case, godless entertainment, we become adulterous spouses of Christ who commit fornication with the world. (The Peoples New Testament Commentary, SwordSearcher Complete Bible Suite 1.43). I discovered that there was diminished power in my life because of this. After all, sin diminishes the power of God in a Christian life. But as I studied my own personal issues on this subject another more corporate thought occurred to me. If most Christians were committing the sin of mixture as I was this could also diminish the power in the church. I used to wonder whatever happened to the ordinary, everyday power of God in the church. The power of the local pastor to convict a person of sin just by standing in his presence. Or the power of the Holy Spirit in the sanctuary, whose presence was so strong that people bowed their heads just entering it. Or the power of the ordinary Christian to live a holy life. I used to think this power loss was due to half-hearted people attending church these days. People whom I thought were marginally saved by cookie-cutter confessions of faith minimized to a decision they made for Christ rather than by the heart-wrenching, soul-searching confessions of sin and cries of repentance of those converted in the past. But now I believe that God in His infinite power and mercy, has the ability to truly save anyone whose heart is really hungry toward Him despite the inadequacy of the salvation rite administered. But as I studied this issue further I wondered, Could it be that half-hearted new converts are not diluting the power of God in the church but many of us who are not living consecrated, separated lives? And that we are doing these new converts a grave disservice because we are not? Could it be that once people are converted, that the discipleship phase of their walk with Christ is seriously hampered (and maybe even dangerously so) by a lack of demonstration of and teaching on holiness? Especially teaching on separation from the world as well as separation to God. Could it be that a lack of emphasis on the doctrine of separation is responsible for much of the power loss in the church? I began to ask myself how can new believers truly grow in the power and grace of God if they become by default adulterous spouses of Christ? How can God bless an unfaithful bride? It is apparent to me and maybe to others that a lot of believers (yet sincere, honest people) are powerless to live clean lives these days. From the inability to follow the bibles command to remain faithful to the wives (and husbands) of their youth, to sexual purity in general and again to simply watching television in a responsible and godly manner. The problem is that there is little agreement on what constitutes what is worldly and therefore what constitutes what is mixture. When I was a child, everyone took it for granted that everyone else knew what was meant by the word worldly. Now its up for debate. I believe this may be due largely in part to the seeker-friendly mentality which some churches have adopted to draw new converts. In order to be seeker-friendly to worldly-minded people is it possible to attract them with holy ways? And if the answer is no, what worldly ways do we surmise that God Himself would approve of? It may be that some of us no longer believe in the power of the gospel to save. Often the people of God in the bible admonished Him for not being with them or using His power to save them from their enemies. And just as often God pointed out that He Himself incited their enemies against them because they would not follow His ways. And today, I believe that we are again accusing God of being distant or accusing the devil for being active but never once examining ourselves to see what we are doing with Gods ways. Gods power to help us when we are surrounded by the enemy is never hampered by the presence of that enemy but it is hampered by the enemy within us. Let us examine our ways to see if the possibility exists that we have strayed from the doctrine of the separateness of believers and unbelievers. Do we make a difference between our ways and their ways and recognize the privileged uniqueness of living in holy communion with God? Not practicing elitism, but acknowledging in humility to God that His holy life within us is worthy of respect. And in respecting the life of Christ in us, we demonstrate that we serve a holy God worthy of this praise. I have come to realize that mixture is more of a detriment to my life than I had previously believed. And I have realized more of the presence of God in my life by avoiding it. I believe that if we would practice fully the doctrine of separation from the world, the presence and power of God would return en masse to the church for every believer. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. (2 Corinthians 6:17-18 KJV) |
Home
