(2 Corinthians 6:14)
After 9 years in the ministry, preaching in over 500
churches of every denomination, producing programming for the last 5 years
for Christian television stations all over the country, I have personally
prayed for and counseled hundreds of thousands of people. Through this, I
have seen some of the great warnings in the Bible ignored, thus causing
incredible personal suffering and destruction of lives. As believers, we
are so quick to cling to God's promises in our hour of need as we should,
but God also put many warnings in His word that we sometimes gloss over and
ignore. One of those warnings is to no be unequally yoked with nonbelievers.
Some have taken this passage to unreasonable lengths, but let me give you my
interpretation of this scripture, and hopefully, help you avoid unnecessary
heartache and pain in your life.
I believe this passage talks directly about those intimate relationships we
have in life. So many email requests I get daily are from men and women who
are married with unbelievers and going through so much turmoil. Let me say
this up front. If you are married now to an unbeliever, this does not mean
to get a divorce. You have already missed the warning and entered into a
covenant relationship that God expects you to honor. God may be able to use
you to bring that unsaved spouse to Christ. But if you are
not married, getting married with an unbeliever is spiritual suicide. Love
is fine, but what about what God says? If you need to see what a closed
door looks like, this is one. Now, if that person comes to Christ, it is
whole different story. Dating? No problem. Again, you may be the Godly
influence in their life and God may be using you to touch that person's heart.
But marriage? Unless you just want to roll right through God's roadblock, which
you have the freewill to do, is just asking for trouble. As a note, I do believe
there are two separate types of dating. One is just as friends, which if you are
going out as friends with an unbeliever, I don't see anything wrong with that.
However, most forms of dating is with the intention of getting married, and you always may get
emotionally involved. For this reason, be very cautious about who you decide to go out with, and
you should only be dating someone who has accepted Christ as their savior.
Outside of the marriage issue, I am not a literalist in regard to this verse of scripture. I do
believe if you go into business with someone, they should be of like faith. The people you
do business with in the course of the day though will be difficult to limit
to just people of faith, though some do and that is fine. Where you shop,
where you recreate, the products you use, I personally feel to try and fit
that in this scripture is taking it to an interpretation that is not meant in it's context.
I want to pray for you today to really pray about your relationships in
life, and keep this warning for God in your mind. God is in the blessing
business. Sometimes though, it requires some patience on your part. He
won't let you down, and His timing is ALWAYS perfect. My prayer is that you
take notice of this warning, have the strength to listen to the Lord, and give God a
chance to work in you life His way, on his timing. Trust me, if you do, you
will avoid so much pain, and be so blessed because when you live God's way, it is
better than anything you ever hoped or dreamed of.
