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Monday, March 16, 2009

Equally Yoked?

Most people are familiar with the Biblical concept of being equally yoked. Often we apply it to marriage - and conclude that Christians should not marry non-Christians. (They shouldn't.)

Of course, there are many people who see themselves as religious that are happy to convert from one religion to another for the sake of a marriage. Perhaps they don't think the Biblical admonition to refrain from being unequally yoked is serious enough to obey. Perhaps they aren't the people of faith that they like to think of themselves as.
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Suffice to say that Christians should not be marrying non-Christians. It is that clear. It would be impossible to build a holy union between two people who are not fundamentally on the same page about the most important truth in all of humanity. It is that simple. But alas - my blog today is not about marriage. It is another kind of relationship that draws my attention today.
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In the Old Testament, when God gave the promised land to the Israelites, he instructed them to destroy all of the heretics. That's right, God said the Jews were to kill everyone who was not one of them (i.e., God's chosen people). Obliterate them. Wipe them from the face of the earth. No only that, but God said to kill their animals ... even their donkeys.
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Why do you suppose a loving God would give such a command? Do you suppose God knew these people would never turn to Him? The answer is really simple - God didn't want His chosen, holy people to be corrupted by relating to those who would never be His chosen, holy people. He didn't want them to be unequally yoked!
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2 Corinthians 6:14-18 gives us further instructions on God's intent. "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and (Satan)? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said, 'I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.' Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
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Notice how it says nothing about marriage? No, God is not talking about marriage relationships here. He is talking about all relationships - marital, personal, platonic, corporate, government, diplomatic, business. Virtually all relationships that Christians have - even as organizations or people groups, are subject to these instructions.
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If we are "one nation under God," or one Church of the living Christ, or one family that serves the Lord, or a Christian business ... the message is clear. We are not to get in bed in any way with others. We are to step away from those relationships if we are in them, and not enter into them again. We are not to be unequally yoked. Ever. For any reason.
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So I continue to be bothered by American disregard for this bit about being unequally yoked. Our government disregards it - and continues to build tighter bonds and more interdependent relationships with governments that do not share our values - principally Communist, Muslim and Hindu. American businesses disregard it - and continue to become more dependent on people who don't share our values for cheap labor, cheap goods, and of course cheaper energy.
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But perhaps the most startling observation is the dilemma of the individual American who seems not to see his or her self as having any responsibility or choice in any of these matters. Like sheep, we shop and buy merchandise dumped on us from these other countries. We don't demand anything made in America. We don't refuse anything made in China. Would any of us care if the fuel for our car came from American soil, or at least from soil of people who share our values? Who among us is willing to pay more for a product that isn't made in China?
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You know, Japan tried to annihilate us. They still come to Pearl Harbor and proudly point to the destruction they did to our country in that war. In return, we've protected them with military might, given them our auto industry and become deeply indebted to them financially. China, Saudi Arabia and Hindu flagrantly disregard our Christian values as foolishness. They persecute people and even evangelize our people to their way of thinking. In return, we buy an increasing amount of goods and services from them - and become deeply indebted to them financially.
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I don't know if you heard the noise last week, when China warned the U.S. about our fiscal responsibility. My thought was, "Ah, it's just beginning." What was I thinking about? I'm thinking about the consequences of being unequally yoked with China. They are just beginning. When China speaks now, America will have to listen. And listen we did. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and others rushed to reassure China that we are cognizant of our responsibilities to them and that their loans to us are "very sound."
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China has zoomed ahead of Japan to become the largest holder of U.S. government debt. We owe more to China than any other country. Between China, Japan and other foreign governments, more than half of our national debt is held by other countries.
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Am I the only one who imagines that the borrower could become slave to the lender? Am I the only one who thinks China will be able to exert pressure on our government and help shape the policies of our current administration?
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What policies? How about health care, education, welfare, taxes and even defense spending.
Indeed, we are not to be unequally yoked. For if we do, there are sure to be consequences. The question then is whether or not any of us will believe in the consequences.

2 comments:

  1. Ah yes... One of those concepts within Christianity that make me want to stay away from Christianity all together. Thank you for bringing it to the surface again.

    When it comes to marriage, my husband is a Christian, albeit a lapsed one. I am not a Christian. We have been married for 14 years, and we have a stronger relationship than most couples. Doesn't God appreciate such love and commitment?

    When it comes to our country, don't we have freedom of religion? Our government cannot insist on Christian *values* when we don't identify Christianity as our state religion. Not to mention the ideas of exclusion, discrimination and hate don't strike me as *values* that I would wish to hold.

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  2. I am interested in discussing this topic with you. However, I would rather do it privately (maybe via email?) Is the email address on your profile correct? (the one ending with "ymail.com") The "ymail" instead of "gmail" is the reason I ask. :)

    Thanks in advance,
    Pedro

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