Chapter 5
Chapter 5
The Bible rings with the cry for separation. Those words, Divide! Divide! so often heard in the House of Commons of England compelling every person to take a side, speak through the pages of the Bible, from those earliest verses which tell how God divided the light from the darkness.
This call came to Abraham, ordering him to leave his home country, his relatives, and his father’s house; to Moses, as the bugle note of the Exodus; to the tribe of Levi, mustering them at the gate of the camp; to the children of Israel, as they languished in Babylon, telling them to return to their fatherland; and resounding among the New Testament church, these words re-echoed: Therefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and do not touch the unclean thing; and I will receive you (2 Corinthians 6:17). Come out of her, my people, that ye not be partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues (Revelation 18:4).
What Is That Separation to Which We Are Called?
Regarding this separation, there are many counterfeits against which we would do well to be on our guard.
It is not the separation of the monk
Such separation has always fascinated noble minds. For like-minded men to go off together to some sequestered valley, protected from the storms that sweep across the world, to build for themselves homes and temples, and to work together with holy meditation and prayer, welcoming daybreak with a service of morning prayer and greeting the first starry host with evening prayer and hymns, such was the dream that stirred the imagination of godly hearts in the Middle Ages. And a mindset something like this filled the Mayflower with the Pilgrim Fathers, and populated the Black Forest with colonies of Moravian settlers.
No matter how attractive, such separation cannot be the separation of Christ. He solemnly prayed that we might not be taken out of the world. I do not pray that thou should take them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from the evil (John 17:15). Indeed, He expressly sent us into the world. And what would happen to the world if we were all to withdraw from its life? It would be a night without a star; a rock-bound coast without a lighthouse beam shining into the murky gloom; a vessel drifting on the rocks without a watch on deck; a carcass spoiling in midsummer without salt! No, this can’t be the separation to which we are called.
It is not the separation of the Pharisee
The Pharisees supposed a man could be religious without being good. In their view, he could be full of extortion and overindulgence, if he just washed the outside of the cup and the platter. He could be full of dead men’s bones, if only he appeared clean like a whitewashed sepulcher. As a result, in their judgment, impurity wasn’t a matter of inward evil but something communicated by a touch. To be touched by a man who had not washed since eating would be enough to defile the stately Pharisee.
Our Lord broke down these unrighteous distinctions forever. He taught – not only by what He said but also by His actions – that impurity isn’t transferred by physical contact. Unrighteousness is nurtured in the heart and bred in act and speech. Jesus didn’t wash after His meals; He ate with publicans and sinners. He let a fallen woman weep at His feet; He touched the bleared eye of blindness, the tied tongue of dumbness, and the diseased flesh of the leper. In all this, we are repeatedly told that He stretched out His hand and touched.
Isn’t this what the world needs? It needs a helping hand − the touch of the King. We will never be able to help people by simply looking at them or urging them on. We must touch them. Those lily-white, delicate, jeweled hands that may turn this page must be yielded to Christ, so He can use them and work His miracles of mercy through them in our weary age. Such contact will not defile. In fact, when we dare to make the contact in the name of Christ and for the welfare of a dying world, it is a disinfectant so far from defiling that it tends to promote our love for purity.
It is not the separation of the Stoic
The Puritans were not entirely free from this mistake. For them, the world was a great, howling wilderness. In their eyes, laughter and merriment were signs of an unregenerate soul. Their plan for life was too narrow and severe to welcome those lighter and softer passages which relieve its strain and draw out the tenderer sentiments of human hearts.
Christ’s life was a perpetual protest against this. He mingled with wedding guests, smiled at the children as they played in the marketplaces and called to their companions. He directed the attention of the crowds to the beauties of the flowers and the habits of the birds. He noticed the sunrise hues and evening tints in the sky and lived as a man among them. However severe He might have seemed to the people of His time who observed appearances only without possessing the life and spirit of religion, He always had a warm heart toward what was natural and human. Let’s not forget the command, Thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God has given unto thee (Deuteronomy 26:11), and let us cultivate the habit of extracting joy and blessing from all the innocent and beautiful things around us.
The Necessity of Answering This Question Is Really Urgent
Hundreds of young Christians are asking what they should do or avoid. It is a pressing question, and in so many cases, they begin to drift because of a lack of a clear principle. As a result, the bloom passes off the basket of summer fruit, and once it is gone, it can never be replaced. It is a pertinent question, especially at those times of year when the dark evenings allow such abundant opportunities for the dance, the ball, the theater, and the opera.
It is also a perplexing question, because good people are found on such opposite sides and give answers as wide apart as the poles to the various questions with which they are provided. Some forbid the theater but allow the opera. Some have no objection to the children’s pantomime, but are horrified at the proposal of seeing an ordinary play. Some would go to see Shakespearean plays but won’t go to others. Some distinguish between a dance and a ball.
What is the result? Christian ministers frequent theaters. Professing Christians give dancing parties not far removed from balls. Funds for religious purposes are raised by private dramatic performances. Our young people are perpetually loosening the restraints that hold them by pushing the fences which divide them from the world outward, taking in new spans of territory, and fussing against restraint.
Are there no principles on which Christians act, without external influence or control, so that each individual soul can decide for itself these difficult, doubtful, and perilous problems which are so incessantly cropping up in all our lives in one form or another? In truth, there are, and the following principles are surely among them, and, like the spear of the seraph Ithuriel, these will indicate by a touch the evil that may lurk under innocent appearances:
What is that relationship? Of course, here we are talking about those who are His alone, or who are desirous of being identified with Him, both now and in the future.
We are His servants, bought by His blood, and sworn to loyal allegiance. Isn’t it consistent then to consider the amusements and gaieties of the world to be of the same spirit today as when it cast Him out of its camp and crucified Him? It has an ugly look about it when loyal soldiers fraternize in the celebrations of rebels.
We are His members, bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh, whom He nourishes and cherishes. Our Head is already passed through the grave on to resurrection ground, where He is gathering His own people around Him. Isn’t it inconsistent then for the Head to be on one side of the grave and the members of the body on the other? Isn’t it totally improper to pretend to be one with Him in His risen glory, while in practice we are as close as we dare live in our contact with the world which He has left?
We are His bride. He, the heavenly Bridegroom, is one with us in a union which has no comparison except that of wedlock where heart unites with heart. Is it consistent with faithfulness to Him for us to hang around with the world, whose hands are saturated with His blood? What did the people of Scotland think of the intimate associations of marriage between Mary, Queen of Scots and Bothwell, the murderer of her first husband, Lord Darnley?
Surely, the outstretched arms of the cross bar the bridge between us and the world. We can cry with the apostle Paul, But in no wise should I glory, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world (Galatians 6:14).
Whenever there is any doubt as to whether it is right to go to this place or that, bring the question under the light that streams from the cross and from the throne. Clear your heart and mind of all selfish purposes and thoughts of what other people might do or say. Let your eyes be discerning to single out the will of the Lord. Ask what He would have you do. Before long, the difficulties will roll up as quickly and quietly as the mists that fill the mountain valleys before the touch of the summer sun. Your whole body will be full of light. The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye is sincere, thy whole body shall be full of light (Matthew 6:22). You will even lose the taste for things you once loved. And in the newfound ecstasy of the living water welling up in your heart, you will be prepared to leave behind the water pot that you had relied on as the source of your life.
Though the world isn’t religious in our sense, it still has a very keen appreciation of true Christianity and a very high ideal of what Christians should be. And when we are met with unexpected questioning such as, “What! Are you here? We didn’t expect to see you!” then we should aptly halt our steps, because the very fuss made over us when we step over the line might suitably make us pause and ask whether or not we’ve done something to forfeit the smile and the “Well done” of Jesus (Matthew 25:21).
This is one of the most important considerations in Christian living.
All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient (1 Corinthians 6:12). And why aren’t they expedient? It is inexpedient or unwise to do things that might seem harmless enough in themselves and which you might feel free to do, if in doing them you lead others to also do them, not because they feel comfortable doing them, but simply because they are emboldened by your example, since they regard you as further advanced in the Christian life than themselves, and so a trustworthy guide.
Evaluate every action – not only the action itself but also how it is likely to influence others – for fear that by your example you may break down decent moral barriers and place other people in positions of temptation, which, however harmless to yourself, are perilous in the extreme to them. We have no right to lead our young children up perilous roads, where we may clamber with clear head and nimble foot, but where their inexperienced steps may slide into the abyss.
Who doesn’t long for a life on fire for the Lord? But how can we possibly expect such a thing if we persistently expose ourselves to influences that choke it and repress it and damp it down? Before we retire to rest, some settings seem incompatible with sincere prayer and Bible study. Such places lower the inner spiritual temperature and leave a bad flavor in the mouth. They poison the young life in the same way noxious gas fumes poison the life of flowers and plants. It is best for us to refrain our feet from all such places.
We must shine like lights in the world. Ye are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14).
The most necessary condition in a lighthouse lamp is its permanence. If it shines one time but is hidden at another time, if it flashes far over the dark, angry waves and then stands dull and obscure on the prominent jutting cliff, of what use is it? It is worse than useless. And if we are to be of any real use in this world, our testimony for Jesus must be maintained in season and out of season, in storm and sunshine, always and everywhere. But if you have to remind yourself that you must not touch on any of those subjects dearest to your soul before going into any situation or group of people, you may well be apprehensive for fear you are trespassing on forbidden ground. Go no place where you can’t take Jesus with you, and ask His blessing before going. Do everything for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
All of this will involve hard fighting, persecution, and misunderstanding. However, it is in this way that we prove our lineage with the noble martyr spirits of the past. See that young girl in the days of Diocletian, beautiful and richly dressed, standing before the altar with the judge on one side, her lover on the other, with her companions grouped around. If she will only throw a few grains of incense on the fire, she will be spared from cruel death and given back to love and friends and life. But not a single grain is cast upon the expectant flames, and she is ruthlessly led off to die for Him whom she loves more than all. Wasn’t she consistent? Wouldn’t you have done the same? Then do the same now and dare to be consistent to your lover, Christ.
At times we may be placed in a position where we have no alternative other than to go into a situation we wouldn’t choose for ourselves. For instance, when the worldly mother of a Christian girl insists on her accompanying her into society, where there is nothing positively sinful but much that is light and thoughtless, it would likely be her responsibility to go. In such a situation, you can ask to be excused, but if permission isn’t granted, you must go, unless conscience positively forbids, and Christ will go with you keeping your heart.
There Are Many Advantages
This is the only safe choice. The world is so attractive and appeals to our weaknesses in such a way that if we launch upon its waters once, they will sweep us toward the rush of the whirlpool in a manner not felt or perceived, and we will go down into the deep, dark abyss.
It is the only strong course. He who wants to lift me must stand above me. Who did the most for Sodom? Was it Lot who went down into it and sat in the gate, or Abraham who got up early to go to the place where he stood before the Lord? The old pagan games were swept off the world, not because the early Christians went to them but because they stayed away. The brutal sports of the last century fell out of favor and went away, not because the Methodists patronized them but because they abstained from them. The same holds true for the moral pests of modern society. They will never go away until good people withdraw both their patronage and support.
This is the only blessed course because God’s promise of being a Father and of receiving us is entirely dependent on our complying with His conditions. It is when father and mother forsake us that the Lord gathers us. When the synagogue casts us out, Jesus finds us; when heart and flesh fail, He is the strength of our heart and our portion forever (Psalm 73:26).
Dare to go outside the camp, at the risk of being thought of as odd and unfriendly. Let the world treat you like it treated your Lord. Why would the servant be stroked and flattered when the Master was crucified as a felon? Lie in His grave and, in this way, you will know the joys of His resurrection life, the sweetness of His love, and the closeness of His friendship, which will compensate for a thousand deaths. To know the King, you must share His exile.
Gather ye, gather ye, out to the lone cave of Adullam, and around the standard of the exiled Prince; and when He comes again in triumph to be crowned with the diadem of universal empire, ye shall appear in His train and by His side, confessed and acknowledged as those of whom He has no reason to be ashamed.