Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you.” 2 Corinthians 2:17
Paul is not quoting a single passage here, but offering a summary of a message of separateness from the Hebrew Scriptures. A similar statement that we often hear is that Christians “are to be in the world but not of the world”. While not directly from scripture, it is derived from what Jesus prays in John 17:14-16.
These passages, though they are not the only ones, have rightfully led many well-intentioned and faithful believers to see themselves as needing to distance themselves from the world, but in what regard? So often it is thought to mean we need clear distinctions about who is in and out, acceptable and not acceptable, or sinner and saint.
Some Christians even seem to revel in this type of separation. They appear to find their identity in how they are removed from others, and want to maintain the distance. Exclusion is necessary for their own inclusion.
This all sounds reasonable until we actually look at Jesus. From whom did he separate himself? If he stays at the home of a chief tax collector, Zaccheus, and dines with the Pharisee, Simon (Luke 7:36ff), from whom is he distancing himself? If he eats with “sinners” why are we called to be separate?
Let’s also consider the world from which we are called to “not be of”. Could we not say that what is characteristic of the world is constant and unrelenting division? In the world we are estranged from one another in every way imaginable, men from women, young from old, and as people of various tribes, nations, and cultures. We distinguish ourselves, one from another, by class, social standing, education, skill or lack of skill, ability or disability, based on occupation and location, ideology, and preferences of all kinds. It truly seems that every way in which we have diversity becomes grounds for grouping, classifying, often vilifying, and always distinguishing ourselves from others.
What if the Christian call to “be separate” and not “of the world” is not to add another way in which people are to be distanced from one another, believers from nonbelievers, but in fact to separate ourselves from separating ourselves? Maybe the ultimate way of being separate from the world is to seek the oneness and unity of all things in God through Christ!
Is this not what Jesus himself seems to do, much to the dismay and criticism of the religionists of his day? Jesus does not even acknowledge the distinction between friends and enemies, but all are to be loved as one’s neighbor regardless.
How tragically ironic that our call to be different from the world has often been practiced by Christians through creating another exclusive group, with well-defined boundaries, that supposedly exists apart from the world but actually imitates the world. We are not separate from the world but have joined in its pathology.
An exclusive club of the faithful appeals not to the example of Jesus. Rather, it reflects our own human longing to define ourselves against the “others” we don’t like or with whom we believe we have nothing in common.
Will we consider that the way to not be “of the world” is to love and accept everyone? If we strive toward unity, we will indeed be unlike most everyone else in the world. To practice the unity of all humanity irrespective of all real and perceived differences, which will all pass away eventually anyway, is the new way of being that Jesus creates through his cross.