Creator, Father, King #285

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.

BEFORE THE DAYS OF advanced machinery, farmers used to plow their fields behind a pair of large animals such as oxen or horses. The animals would do the hard work of pulling the plow, but the farmer would still have to steer the animals.

To do this, the farmer had to make sure the animals were equally yoked. This meant two things:

1. Fastening a yoke to the animals’ necks. A yoke is a large wooden crossbeam that joins the animals together and attaches to the plow.
2. Ensuring that two similar animals were yoked together. (A farmer would never want to pair a stronger ox to a weaker ox, or a horse to a milking cow, etc.)

If the animals weren’t properly yoked, the plow would always veer toward the stronger animal, and the poor farmer would be left with crooked rows all over his crop fields when it came time for planting seeds.

This was the image that the apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote today’s verse.

What’s It Mean?

There’s much for us to learn about our human relationships from Paul’s words, which are part of a larger section on the topic in 2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1. But we must be careful. Paul is not saying you should cut off all unbelieving friends or family members from your life. That’s completely unbiblical. We’re called to be “salt” and “light” to the world around us (Matthew 5:13-16).

Also, we must guard against ever displaying a haughty attitude toward non-Christians, as if we are better than they are. What a terrible witness that would be! (On the contrary, see Paul’s example in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 and Jesus’ example in Mark 2:15-17.)

Here’s Paul’s point: Christians and non-Christians have different goals, ambitions, and philosophies in life. Ultimately, they are heading in different directions.

A Christian must never be so closely paired with an unbeliever that it distracts from his or her overall mission of personal sanctification and spreading the gospel. You should never associate with a non-Christian to the point where the unbeliever’s ungodly values negatively impact your faith. If you’re experiencing that now, that might be an unequal yoking.

Rather than yoke yourself unequally to unbelievers, pray for them, show them the love of Christ, and tell them the glorious news of the gospel!

Now What?

Take a few moments to pray for the unbelievers in your life.

Did You Know?

When Paul quotes the Lord in 2 Corinthians 6:16-18, he’s actually compiling six separate Old Testament texts: Leviticus 26:11-12; 2 Samuel 7:14; Isaiah 43:6; Isaiah 52:11; Ezekiel 20:34; and Ezekiel 37:27.