The Sad and Silly Saga of Secondary Separation

In some corners of the ecclesiastical world, there still remains a belief that we are to act like Old Testament Israel in regard to the peoples of the world. By that I refer to the way some demand that Christ-followers remain "separate" from the world. As Israel was told to stay away from the idolatrous peoples that surrounded them (when they weren't told to actually go and kill them all!), so also some who march to the fundamentalist beat consider it a high and holy privilege to distance themselves from having meaningful, caring friendships with unbelievers. After all, God commanded Israel to "come out from among them and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing", right? My problem with all this is that all too often this attitude of separation becomes the default relationship setting with believers as well, especially with those with whom we disagree.

I remember growing up in that world. I remember that when Billy Graham came to town, we couldn't go. I also remember that after he left, we couldn't be friends with those that did go. Looking back on it, that was really weird, and even wrong. But back to the Old Testament ...

It is perfectly clear that in the OT, God did instruct the Israelites not to settle with, or fraternize with, the foreign nations that surrounded them. And if those in the nations wanted to come to God, they had to come to Israel. Ruth, Rahab, Uriah, and a host of other foreigners did just that, and found refuge under the wings of Yahweh. It has always been curious to me that God never sent Israel door-to-door in Philistia! Rather, He demanded that His people live separate from the nations, distanced from the idolatrous peoples of the world, safe in the corral that was the Law.

But, on a mountain in Galilee, the resurrected Lord Christ changed all that. He declared that there had been a radical change in the management authority of the world. "All power has been given to me in heaven and in earth" He told them. "Therefore - since I now have wrested power and authority from the Evil One whom I defeated on the cross (see: Hebrews 2:14,15) - go into all the world, and as you go, don't be isolated anymore, but make disciples of the peoples of the world, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey the Word! And fear not, I'll be with you every step of the way!" (Hegg paraphrase of Matthew 18:18-20).

Certainly, this was the great "unpacking" of the "salt and light" principles Jesus had taught on another mountain a few years before (see: Matthew 5:13-16). Go, have vital contact with those in the world, so as to preserve and save them. Just be careful that in your contact, you don't compromise! Unsalty salt is useless! Two mountains, same command: Get involved with those in your world!

We know that this is what Jesus was saying simply because many of the Jewish disciples had trouble with it. It seemed quite opposite to what they had grown up with. Didn't the nations need to come to Israel to get to God? Didn't they need to keep the law, and get circumcised, yada yada yada? Paul had to battle that, and even Peter had to admit that this was a bit of a change (see his reaction to God's command that he go take the Gospel to a Roman Centurion in Acts 10!). And Peter had a hard time staying with the program, as demonstrated in his conflict with Paul in Galatians 2:1-11. Paul had to get in Peter's face and show him that the Gospel wasn't about separation anymore. Paul confronted Peter because the way he was living (not wanting to eat a meal with Gentiles, even though they were believers!) was an affront to the Gospel. Keep that in mind.

There is yet another text from the pen of Paul that we have to factor in before I try to wrap all this together and make my point. In Ephesians 4, Paul stresses that the responsibility of every believer is to "preserve the unity of the Body in the bond of peace." Two things are clear:

1) The Body here is the universal, invisible, true company of Christ-followers in whom the Spirit dwells, and to whom the Almighty is a Father. There is only one Body here described, and its pretty big!

2) The unity of that Body has already been established; it needn't be created; rather, the call is to preserve the unity that has been established by God Himself as the Spirit has "baptised" each individual Christ-follower into that Body. It is apparent that the unity of the Body has to be preserved because there are so many ways that it can be stretched and torn! All kinds of wicked forces are trying to rend the unity we have in Christ. Our call is to stand firm, preserving that unity. Unfortunately, some are working against us from the inside.

So, here's the deal. Anyone who is "in Christ" is in the Body. And I am called upon to try to preserve that unity. I am not free to "separate" in terms of loving relationship and warm, Christian friendship from those in the Body with whom I may have differences and even doctrinal disagreements. I am called to handle my differences differently! It is only when someone claiming to be in the Body displays, through their rejection of a core theological doctrine (eg. the Deity of Christ), or their pursuit of habitual sin, that they are not truly "of us" that we are called upon to "put them out", to reduce our relationship with them to the level of an unbeliever.

So, as believers we are no longer to be "separation" driven. Not from the sinners in the world, and not from those in the Body of Christ with whom we differ. The New Covenant change all that. Now, our list of friends is not complete until it includes someone who needs Jesus. And our relationships with unbelievers must be real, authentic, caring for the whole person. And while their eternal destiny is our highest concern, we must also care about them in the here and now, and extend real Gospel love and truth, wrapped in genuine Gospel living.

And all that must also inform the way we relate to other believers. Unless the very fiber of the Gospel itself is at stake, we are called to preserve the unity of the Body. But, at times, I find that love for self and team trump love for the whole Body of Christ. We evangelicals have just enough of that old fundamentalist toxin in us to conjure up civil wars all too often.

I am heartsick today because I have just left a long coffee with a good friend who is on the receiving end of something I also watched unfold as a kid growing up. Back then it was called "secondary separation" although in truth, it should have been called "primary disobedience to the Word." It went like this: "We disagree with Billy Graham, and so we are 'separating' from any association with him" (Note: in the fundamentalist lexicon this goes under the heading of "primary separation"). "And since you supported Billy Graham, we're 'separating' from you - even though you agree with us about almost everything else, including the Deity of Christ, and all the other biggies - because you didn't separate from Billy like we did!" (Note: in the fundamentalist lexicon this is called "secondary separation"). Do you see the problem? A secondary difference (over something other than the core truths of God) has been allowed to sever primary unity! Can you see that this is exactly what Paul's exhortation in Ephesians 4:1ff was meant to deter?

We are currently seeing a revival of secondary separation in our circle. If you like one theologian, you aren't allowed to appreciate another. And if you like that preacher, you're going to be in trouble with another. And so on, and so on, and so on.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that there are many theologians and preachers in our world today that are wrong, dead wrong, on the Gospel, on the Trinity, on many of the biggies. And I have no trouble naming names (coughosteen)and warning everyone to "examine everything according to the plumb line of Scripture." I'll also admit that there are some who do stupid things, and embarrass the rest of us, while remaining true to the core beliefs we all share. It's here that we encounter, all too often,
those intramural squabbles with those of like precious faith that are being fueled way beyond what is helpful. Should it ever be that these pride-fueled skirmishes are allowed to fracture the Body of Christ? Are we right to choose sides over things less than the Gospel, and its core ingredients? Never!

Where differences arise, they should be handled privately, winsomely, honestly. Where agreement isn't reached, others should be called in to help. And where disagreement is still an issue, commit yourselves to passionate prayer and continued discussion for as long as it takes. Get to know each other. Realize that you may never agree on every point, but if you are in the Body of Christ, you must preserve its unity even at the expense of publicly winning the argument. There are many things that are more important than you proving your view is right. Chief among them is the testimony of Christ's unified Body before a watching world.

I sure wish some Paul would get in Peter's face and remind him that the Gospel is about how God unites enemies, and not about how it divides friends.

Hope this helps,

David