LEADING A SEPARATED LIFE
Jeremy Pace
“But when it pleased God, who separated me form my mother’s womb and called me through His grace to reveal his Son in me” (Gal. 1:15). Paul was talking about being separated, which means to be set apart, different, and often times, lonely. Paul was speaking of separated from the world, just as Jesus was, for He said “Don’t be surprised when the world hates you, remember that it first hated me” (John 7:7). And Paul encourages in Eph. 5:1 “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.”
The Christian life is freedom, though many churches preach and believe it was a system of do’s and don’ts, and nothing more, but Paul blew that thinking out of the water. “All things are lawful for me,” he says bluntly in 1 Cor. 10:23. So is that it then, Paul, everything’s fine? He goes on to say, “but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful, but not all things edify.” He speaking of in non-religious or social gatherings in his time, that if a guest served you food that you know was offered to an idol, it is okay to eat it, since everything belongs to God. That problem arises when a brother in Christ may see you do that, and it confused him and offends his conscious. So yes, the freedom is there, but remember that it is inconsistent to glorify God and to hurt others. It comes down to choosing between the knowledge and the liberty (the freedom to serve God in all the ways that are consistent with His Word, will, nature, and holiness), and compassionate love for others. Because we all know, “it’s not about me.” Paul says almost the same statement earlier in 6:12; “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” This is speaking of what many Christians call the “gray” areas in life, that don’t seem necessarily dark, but also not really white. These areas could be drugs, pot, smoking, drinking, masturbation, or a number of others things that are specifically called out as evil in Scripture. But it does warn that they are not beneficial or helpful to you in your separated life, and often times, if not always, they lead to evil patterns and habits. The Message Bible summed up this segment best; “Looking at it one way, you could say ‘Anything goes, because of immense generosity and grace, we don’t have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster.’ But the point is not just to get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well…. But, except for these special cases (making a brother stumble with your actions), I’m not going to walk around on egg-shells worrying about what small-minded people might say, I’m going to stride free and easy, knowing what out large-minded Master has always said.”
Paul was very aggressive against the kind of religion that tried to squelch your life with God, instead of enrich to what it was meant to be. I may have to suffer some inconvenience so as not to offend someone, but that should be a rare thing. I could have written this paper with just a bunch of rules for how to live a separated life. But we have enough of that already. Much of the church shows a Christian life that is boring, and nothing but a way to make your life boring. That’s the empty life the Pharisees had, and the one Paul constantly spoke against. The life Jesus came to give was the Life, capital ”L”. Sin is not our original nature, back in the Garden is how human beings weren’t meant to live, that history goes deeper than our sin that followed, that’s who we really are, the Life that ones to get out of us, but rarely does, either because we’re afraid to let it, or we don’t even know what it is. “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (who we really are), and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”
Now I’m not saying not to oppose the darkness. “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matt. 11:12). All through out the Bible, to separate themselves from the world, the king or prophet (who we are all called to be) would destroy the idols and they’re worshipers! Elijah slew 400 prophets of Baal, Ahaz ordered Jezebel to be thrown out a window, and David killed Goliath and cut off his head. Separation from the devil, from lust, and from defeat does at times take force. I’m just saying there’s already plenty of that, and not enough of what really makes for a separated life. And that’s love.
What was Jesus ministry? Was it to stop this, stop that, follow the law or else? No, it was a ministry of healing the brokenhearted. Our separation from the world should not be that we have a self-help program. It should be that we love out of a heart that was broken but God has made whole. Jesus saved the world by giving people the desires of their hearts- the blind could see, the deaf could hear, the dirty were forgiven, the oppressed were set free, and the dead returned to life. He called us “The light of the world, a city on a hill that cannot be hidden.” (Matt. 5:14). Now he did take the law further than others had; “But I say to you, whosoever is angry without a cause is in danger of judgment… whoever looks upon a women with lust in his heart has already committed adultery with her… do not swear at all.” (Matt 5:22, 28, 32). But then he says, “Do not resist an evil person… turn the other cheek… love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, pray for them.” (Matt 5:39,44). And finally he warns in 6:6, and 17, to not gloat about your separated life. Pray in secret, don’t make it obvious your fasting. What is the separated life? It’s the Life. And if people see that in you, the world will want to know where you found what they’ve always wanted.
“We
were meant to live for so much more.” –Jon Foreman of Switchfoot
“And
I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” –Bono of U2
“There’s
got to be more to life.” –Stacie Orrico
“You’re
all I want, You’re all I need, You’re everything. Everything.” -Lifehouse