PTM WEEKLY UPDATE -- APRIL 14, 2008
Should Christians "fellowship" with unbelievers?
Q. I have not been attending a "church building" because I have been hurt in the past due to the way some church members have treated me and others that were attending the services. I realize I don't need a church building to be a Christian, and agree with what you have written. However, it seems to me when you have talked about how Christians fellowship that you have said that we should fellowship with unbelievers. What about 2 Corinthians 6:14 which says not to fellowship with unbelievers; what fellowship has light with darkness?
A. What does the New Testament actually say about Christian fellowship?
1) We find that the early church, just founded on the Pentecost recorded earlier in the second chapter of Acts 2, "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship" (Acts 2:42). This is a historical fact, from which we can infer that it is a) beneficial for Christians to be grounded in the faith "once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 3) and b) beneficial for Christians to discuss their faith, share their experiences, as they enjoy a new life, united in Christ.
2) Paul told the Corinthian Christians that they were called "into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord . . . ." (1 Corinthians 1:9). This is the most oft-repeated teaching about fellowship in the New Testament. Our primary, foundational relationship/fellowship is with Jesus -- he is in us and we are in him.
3) In 1 Corinthians 10:20 Paul tells the Corinthians that they cannot partake of the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons -- they cannot have one foot in pagan practices and one foot in the Lord. This passage links the words "communion" (co-union) we have with the Lord, at his table, with the word fellowship -- so that once again, the teaching is that a Christian's true fellowship is with the Lord. Thus, if Jesus is in us and we are in him, he alone is Lord. All other pursuits and interests are secondary. We have but one Lord -- one allegiance.
4) In 2 Corinthians 6:14, the passage about which you ask, the word "fellowship" is found in the Authorized King James Version (1611), and the New King James Version. The teaching here is about being "unequally yoked" with unbelievers. The word yoke is used along with fellowship -- words that suggest a union, a connection, a bond. Paul here says that a Christian cannot be yoked/united, with someone who is an unbeliever, for our true uniting/fellowship is in Christ. Paul is teaching that Christians should not enter into binding partnerships with unbelievers.
But, he does not specify what exactly he means by a binding partnership -- a yoke (the word of course recalls the device used to harness two animals together). And it is at this point that many have overstepped their boundaries by reading their own doctrinal agenda into this text. Some have said this means that a Christian cannot be married, or even remain married to a non-Christian. Some, within Christendom, have extended their interpretation to mean that members of their church and denomination must marry within their own church or denomination (some groups who insist on this interpretation have a membership of only a few hundred -- severely limiting marital options!). Some have said that this verse means that a Christian cannot marry someone of another race or culture. Some have said that this means that a Christian cannot be in a business partnership with a non-Christian. But at the end of the day, these interpretations are an example of someone having an opinion about a practice or belief and trying to find a biblical passage to make their teaching "biblical."
When we take a careful look at the entire context (6:14-18), it is clear that Paul is teaching that Christians should not, indeed, by very definition, cannot, be both pagans and Christians. Once again, as he did in 1 Corinthians 10:20, Paul is saying that we have nothing in common with darkness, for we are the children of light. Our common denominator is Jesus, he is the ground of our faith, the rock upon which and in whom we live. Paul does not offer specifics as to what it means to be in Christ, and how we will relate to those who are not in Christ. As I mentioned already, many over the history of Christianity have interpreted this passage, and others, in such a way as to insist that Christians separate themselves from anyone and anything deemed to be outside of the faith. Communes, retreats, separatist movements all have their thinking rooted in the idea that Christians must "be separate" (1 Corinthians 6:17). But the teaching of the New Testament, the example of Jesus and the early apostles mitigates against such an extreme. Jesus spent much of his time with obvious, flagrant sinners. Christians are directed to be salt and light in this world, not to hide our lights under a basket or bowl (Matthew 5:15).
How can we allow others to see and know of the light that Jesus shines within us if we must hide away in a cave? How can we function in our world if we must never buy groceries, go to a restaurant, pump gas in our car, talk to our neighbors, work in an office, attend school, etc. unless each and every one of our contacts are deemed to be Christians? And how would that work -- would some accrediting agency make judgments (and there are many groups itching to take on this task!) issuing lists of all those who are real Christians and -- everyone else? Would this mean that Christians could never talk to, visit with, and enjoy the company of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc who are not seen or perceived as "believers"?
If the answer to the question, "should Christians fellowship with unbelievers" is "no" -- then, pray tell, how would Christians accomplish that mission?
It seems that the New Testament is saying that we have one level of human relationship with others who are also in Christ -- that we can truly fellowship with them because Jesus lives in us both -- and that we have another level of human relationship with those who are not in Christ. We don't "fellowship" with them, but that doesn't mean we avoid them or shun them. We have another level of relationship with them -- but we still have a relationship.
5) Paul speaks of the fellowship of ministry -- of serving, in 2 Corinthians 8:4, of the "right hand of fellowship" in Galatiams 2:9, and again explains that by very definition Christians have "no fellowship" with the deeds of darkness (Ephesians 5:11). We also read that we, as Christians, share in the partnership/fellowship of the gospel (Philippians 1:5) and that we share in the fellowship of suffering with Christ (Philippians 3:10). These references have to do with the partnership and fellowship we have with fellow Christians because we enjoy, by God's grace, an intimate relationship with God.
6) We also read of the unity -- the union - the communion -- we have in Christ, which is our real partnership, the relationship that makes all human fellowship possible. We read of our union in Christ, our fellowship in him, in Philippians 2:1 and 1 John 1:3, 6-7.
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