Monday, January 18, 2021

The Danger of Swimming Upstream

 

Monday, January 18, 2021

Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers.  How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness?  How can light live with darkness?  What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil?  How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?  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 6:14-18

If there is any species on earth that could tell you about how tough it is to swim upstream, against the current, just ask some salmon; they’re born, live for two or three years at home in their river, then go on a two, to three-year journey in the oceans.  If they make it that far they develop the urge to go back home.  The complete round-trip may be 6,000 miles, capped off by an upstream final push against strong rushing waters to do one of two things, spawn and die, or get eaten by a bear.  Life can be tough! 

Salmon live and reproduce on the strength of sheer numbers.  Those that do make it past the bears spawn so many offspring the expectation of their continuation as a species is understandable.  At times I wonder if the continuation of the church (as we know it) is as certain as salmon.  Unlike the resolve of salmon, willing to swim upstream, against the current, and in the face of waiting bears, the church seems to have little of that fortitude to press-on to glory, even if it means getting eaten in the process.  The common denominator in the church these days is of self-preservation and fitting-in with the world’s ways – not “otherliness” which is a rarely used word, meaning “holy” or “separate”.  That’s a God-word, hagios in Greek, the condition of being “other” or set-aside from the norm…for God’s purposes, which is far different from being worldly or common.

Almost a decade ago I wrote in a Rocky Road Devotion about being separate, hagios, or holy…the state of swimming upstream, against the tide of popular culture:

Being separate isn’t about being self-sufficient, go-it-alone, John Wayne tough; anything but!  Separation is more about living a life consistent with Christian values, so you don’t have to “go it alone”.  Life lived in-Christ is a life that often turns its back on the most popular thoughts and activities this world offers.[1]

The call of Jesus for His bride, the church, to be hagios, holy, or separated from worldliness, is not a call to judge others, but to get our own house in order.  It is to follow the inner call/guidance of God’s Spirit, much the way salmon follow that inner-directive to swim towards home. 

Our call, as disciples of Jesus Christ, is upward, holy, hagios…to be separately-guided by God’s Word and Spirit.  To do otherwise would be like light and darkness settling down together to coexist. 

For You Today

Seasons change, conditions, presidents, economy, entertainment…all of it comes and goes.  The call of Christ remains…follow me!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on this text see Separate and Emptying the Church      



[1] From an older Rocky Road post “Separate”



 

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