Some of our readers have sent us two articles taken from current so-called fundamentalist literature. They were both written by the same man (Ray C. Stedman) and are entitled "True Separation," and "The Christian and Worldliness." We have been asked for an appraisal of the teachings set forth in them; hence we feel called upon to examine them and to make a report. The two articles have much in common, and many of the phrases are used in both, so we shall consider them together.
These articles do contain a certain amount of truth, but it is far overbalanced by the neglect of important scriptures, the misapplication of others, and a slanting of truth generally, thus producing a very insidious line of teaching that will undoubtedly undermine true separation. They advocate a definite mingling of Christians with the world in an adventuresome sort of Christian heroics which dares defilement. This is bolstered by reference to the Lord Jesus in the days of His ministry eating and drinking with publicans and sinners. This He surely did! He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He came to heal that which was sick, but not to call the self-righteous who in their own eyes needed no repentance.
But let us be honest. Did the Lord mingle with the world on its own plane? Did He ever engage in any banter to gain its friendship? True, He went into the houses of publicans and sinners to eat on certain occasions; He also dined in houses of Pharisees. In Luke's Gospel, where He is displayed as the Man among men, He is seen twice in publicans' houses, and twice in Pharisees' houses, but in each instance He took a different character according to the need of those present. He was ever the LIGHT that shone on everything around, and brought all into proper focus. He never descended to the level of those whom He visited; He never acted beneath Himself in His infinite holiness in order to gain people's interest. He did not discuss the common topics of the day with the woman at Sychar's well, nor did He discourse with her about the men of the city; only to call her sin to remembrance did He mention them. Again when a man came to Him and desired that He should speak to his brother to divide the inheritance with him, what did the Lord say? Did He act as arbitrator? Did He assume judgeship? No; He said, "Who made Me a judge or a divider over you?" and then exposed what was at work in the man's soul—covetousness. (See Luke 12.) These articles we have examined teach that the Christian should go out and mingle with worldlings and learn to talk with them about what concerns them, be one with them, until such time as one gets an opportunity to speak of better things; but that is not what our blessed Example did.
One article says, "Christians may associate freely with unbelievers, even to joining clubs and associations where their mutual interests meet, so long as such association does not commit them legally or morally to some act or practice from which a mere word of dissent could not excuse them." Let us look at our blessed Lord again. Did He join a political society, the Herodians? Did He join the Pharisees, although they were fundamentalists of that day? Their beliefs were generally orthodox, and they themselves respectable. To ask such questions is to answer them. It might also be well to call attention to the fact that we never read of the Lord's dining in the house of a Sadducee. Sadducees were the infidel Jews of the day, and we never read of one of them getting a blessing.
How careful the Lord was in maintaining absolute separation from all defilement, although He went about doing good and dispensing regal blessings. And yet the writer of these articles dares to say, Christians should "be in the world like our Lord was—in it up to the hilt." How shocking! Truly this is a libel on Him who was "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners." It was the very fact that the Jews could not get the Lord to accommodate Himself to the world system of the day that caused their intense hatred of Him. They would even have made Him a king in their world, but it would not have been God's way, though soon He will reign as God's King. The world today will bear with Christians if they will but accredit the world by acquiescence in its schemes, its pleasures, its politics, its philosophy, its religion, etc. It is the Christian's walking as he should as a heavenly person going through a strange land that is intolerable to the world. Christians should not marvel if the world hates them, for the Lord forewarned them, "It hated Me before it hated you."
The book of The Acts presents the early days of the Church, and there we find the intense separation of the early believers. They were separate and distinct from the Jews and the pagans, and yet there was never a time when there was such blessing in the gospel. But the author of these articles thinks to bring about great blessing in the gospel by having believers intermingle with the world. It was not done in the bright days of the Church when all was in order.
In "The Christian and Worldliness" we read, "There is a tendency to withdraw and seek our own crowd." This the author condemns, but when the early disciples were let out of prison, "They went to their own company." There was a company known as their own, and they sought that fellowship. "And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them." When Peter was released from prison, he knew where to find his own company, and he went straightway to it. When Paul and Silas were released from the Philippian jail, they went to the house of Lydia and comforted the brethren. True, when the saints were scattered they went elsewhere, but as they did they preached the Word (Acts 8). They had no time for joining worldly societies and learning to talk the world's language; they had a message to tell and, as they went, they told it. They were dubbed "Christians" in Antioch, in disrespect, and they were referred to as those that turned the world upside down. Theirs was a vigorous and living testimony that either drew men in faith to them and to the truth, or made them enemies.
Mr. Stedman refers to a Christian's walking in holy separation as monasticism, but that is unfair. The believers in The Acts were not monks or ascetics; they went in and out before the unbelievers and were a testimony to the attractive power of the gospel that wrought effectual satisfaction in those who received it. The impact of the early believers at Thessalonica was so great that the whole district was talking about the people that gave up their idols and worshiped a God in heaven and waited for His Son to come back. If there were more of that kind of Christian living today, less human efforts would be used, and results would be greater. It is not holy separation and recognition of the Christian's heavenly calling that is to blame for little true results in the gospel, but rather the world bordering of the Christians. We are living in a day of sickly, devitalized Christianity that leaves no impact on the unbeliever.
At the beginning there were the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of God. Today Christendom is a grand medley of Christianity, Judaism, mysticism, social reform, philosophy, and what not. These are the last days, when holy separation is more than ever needed in the true saint of God. The Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy gives instructions for these very days, and calls attention to the form of godliness without power that has enveloped the land. These are the difficult days when vessels to honor and to dishonor are found side by side in the profession. What does the Lord call for? SEPARATION! "Let every one that nameth the name of Christ [the Lord] depart from iniquity," and "If a man therefore purge himself from these [and it should add, by separating himself from them], he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work." Not by worldly association will the man of God be suitable and fit for service to the Lord, but by holy and intense separation.
It is true there is a false separation, of which monasticism is a sample. The Pharisees of old separated themselves from many things, and Jude speaks of such: "These be they who separate themselves, sensual [natural], having not the Spirit." A man need not be a Christian at all to have that kind of separation; in fact, it may well be a sign that he is not. We are called upon to be ready to every good work, to be ready to help our enemy if we find him in need (Rom. 12:2020Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. (Romans 12:20)). We are to walk blamelessly in the midst of a crooked and perverse world in which we are to shine; but not one word of this implies the mixing that is suggested in the reviewed articles. Our neighbors, our fellow workmen, our classmates, and all who know us should witness our separated walk as heavenly people on earth, as those who are mindful of their heavenly birth and citizenship. Our work and manner of life should be above reproach, and we should always be ready to give an answer to anyone for the hope that is in us.
In such a case, even though they may wish to say, "Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live," there is a day coming when they will have to admit that our lives were a testimony to them. "Flaying your conversation [or manner of life] honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation." 1 Pet. 2:1212Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. (1 Peter 2:12). Let us look further:
The plain, definite injunction of 2 Cor. 6 is, "Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel [unbeliever]? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?" Surely God's Word is plain enough, but this article entitled "True Separation," seeks to set it aside by specious reasoning. It quotes Deut. 22:1010Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. (Deuteronomy 22:10), which is very much in point: "Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together," but then suggests that it was only because it would be irritating to both animals because of their different natures. "Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith He it altogether for our sakes?" Let us also look at Deut. 22:99Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled. (Deuteronomy 22:9) and 11: "Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled.... Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together." Is it not plain enough that these verses cannot be dismissed with a simple explanation that the two animals would be rendered fretful? The truth is that God hates mixtures, and does not want His people to be a people of mixed habits or associations. The priest of old was to be well versed in the law so that he might differentiate between the holy and unholy, between clean and unclean. God makes a difference, and expects His people to do likewise. As another has said, "Abram's garment was soiled" by failure in the path of faith, but "Lot's garment was 'woolen and linen.' He was untrue to the call of God." He mingled with the world and did not benefit it at all, but pulled himself and his household down. Oh, how many dear Christians have followed Lot into the world, often by thinking that they could exert an influence for good in it, only to fall into its meshes to the extinguishing of their testimony altogether.
God is wiser than we are, and He has said, "Be not unequally [or, diversely] yoked." A yoke is a linking together of people in any common cause. A servant of the Lord once gave some wholesome advice to young Christians when he said, "Never join anything." "He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." Let us not link ourselves with any cause whatsoever in this world, be it ever so noble, or our aims ever so good. C. H. Mackintosh wrote that someone asked him if he would not help pull a cart out of a ditch; he said he surely would, but he would not join a society organized for the purpose of pulling carts out of ditches.
God calls us to come out and be separate, but Mr. Stedman tries to reason it away by a play on the Greek word for separate; however, a careful examination of the places where the word is used will not admit of anything but separation. Furthermore, what does "come out" mean? We quite admit that our separation should be more than outward separation; it should be of heart and purpose, but let us not set aside the plain Word of God. We know this will be called narrowness, but it is not so. Just before the call not to be diversely yoked with unbelievers, the Spirit of God directs this word to us: "Be ye also enlarged." It is not narrowness to walk in obedience, with our feet in a narrow path; but all the while our hearts should be enlarged with compassion for the unbeliever, and even for the believer who is unequally yoked, although not going with him in his wrong course.
In the article, "The Christian and Worldliness," oddities and eccentricities of some Christians are held up to ridicule in such a way as to discredit a Christian's walking in personal devotedness and unworldliness. It even teaches us to examine all that our fathers have taught us of avoiding the snares of the world. To be sure, we should make the Word of God our standard, but let us beware how we "remove the old landmarks." Are we in our generation more holy and better able to discern between that which pleases God and that which does not, than were our fathers?
The Word of God will neither make us hermits nor freaks. We shall seek to give no offense in anything (1 Cor. 10:3232Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: (1 Corinthians 10:32)), and to view the world and its allurements from an elevation, such as Abraham was able to do when with God on the mountain above the plain where Lot dwelt. There was nothing in all the plain that appealed to the "lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" in Abraham, for he had something better. The Apostle John lets us know that all that is in the world is opposed to the Father; and if the love of the Father is in our hearts, the world will be kept out. You cannot fill a vessel that is already full to the brim; there simply is no room for more.
Do we need lists of worldly things, as the author suggests many have, to keep the world out? No; we need the enjoyment of the Father in our souls. "For all that is in the world,... is not of the Father, but is of the world." But Mr. Stedman says, "What I am trying to do is to show you that everything can be worldly just as everything can be spiritual." This is fallacious and misleading. The lusts of the flesh are never spiritual, and never can be, nor can the lusts of the eyes or the pride of life. Now we admit that new clothes (as the author suggests) can be a cause for the pride of life, or suit the lusts of the eyes, or of the flesh, so that what is perfectly normal and needful could be used for worldly principles; but he places drinking, smoking, and dancing in the same category. Seriously, can these ever be spiritual? Would our attitude toward them change what is purely a lust of the flesh into that which is spiritual, or of the Father? To suggest this is plain sophistry. We could go on and on in pointing out serious flaws and errors in these articles, but we solemnly warn our readers against anything that tends to have us forget our heavenly calling or to make us walk unworthy of it (Eph. 4:11I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, (Ephesians 4:1)).
And in direct opposition to Mr. Stedman, we still stand by the Word of God and would teach our young people, and those who are older too, to avoid evil and evil contacts, instead of walking forth in the spirit of valor to meet it with confidence. "Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. AVOID IT, PASS NOT BY IT, TURN FROM IT, AND PASS AWAY." Pro. 4:14, 1514Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. 15Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. (Proverbs 4:14‑15). (Also Psalm 1:11Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. (Psalm 1:1).) Remember that Proverbs is the book of wisdom for the path of earth. All would do well to ponder its precepts.
And contrary to Mr. Stedman's thought, when we walk in holiness and separation, with the love of the Father in our hearts, we shall not have "a terrible sense of boredom and frustration in life," nor will life "be pale and uninteresting." The Christian who walks in "fellowship with the Father and the Son" knows fullness of joy, and no one else does. We can then be like the Thessalonians, waiting "for His Son from heaven,... even Jesus."
Another gross error in the teachings of these articles is the way in which Christians are encouraged to dare the world and its defilement. We are never "conditioned... to overcome" evil, except as we truly are conscious of our utter weakness, and go in the Lord's strength. We can never do this lightly, nor as "a thrilling and daring challenge," in a "love of adventure." Those who do so must go forth at their own charges. The soul that knows its own frailty will cry, "Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe." We need the constant succor of Christ as our Great High Priest who understands our weaknesses.
The Word of God abounds with instances of failure on the part of the saints of God when they dropped down from their place to the level of the world. The prophet was sent to Jehoshaphat when he joined a society to help Israel recover God-given ground: "Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD." 2 Chron. 19:22And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. (2 Chronicles 19:2). Even take the case of the great Apostle to the Gentiles. He was told to go far hence to the Gentiles, but he went back and mixed with the Jews in Jerusalem, where he had no business to be. What was the result? He got into trouble there, and was left much to himself; then he made one mistake after another, and had to take some things back and suffer for others. If we go in our own strength or where we ought not to be, we shall have to go it alone to our discomfiture.
We will find ourselves in problems and difficulties which we shall not know how to meet, but the fact will be that it was not the mind of God that we should be there.
"O Lamb of God, still keep us
Close to Thy pierced side;
'Tis only there in safety
And peace we can abide;
With foes and snares around us,
And lusts and fears within,
The grace that sought and found us,
Alone can keep us clean."
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