How are you yoked?

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.   2 Corinthians 6:14

In the men’s and ladies discipleship classes I am stressing the importance of having loving, serving, and caring relationships with other believers. If you find yourself wanting to spend more time with unbelievers than believers you need to examine yourself to see if you’re in the faith (2 Cor. 13:4-6).

For the modern reader, unless you work with team of animals, it may be hard to understand the meaning of this passage. In Deuteronomy 22:10 we are warned against plowing with an ox and a donkey yoked together. Perhaps this is because the donkey would struggle to pull the ox’s load and the ox could not go at the faster donkey’s pace. In 2 Corinthians, Paul seems to be talking about a deeper spiritual reality, advising God’s people to be cautious of yoking with people who serve lawlessness, darkness, and idol worship.

One commentary puts it like this:

“While we’re clearly called to love, serve, and work with     non-believers, Paul says not to be “unequally yoked” with them. What does it mean to be unequally yoked? The answer lies in the contrast to being yoked with Jesus, who says, “Take my yoke upon you.” (Matthew 11:29). One part of the yoke is around us, and the other is on Jesus’ shoulders. Jesus, like the lead ox in a team, determines our bearing, pace, and path, and we submit to his leadership. Through his yoke, we feel his pull, his guidance, his direction. By his yoke, he trains us to work effectively in his team. His yoke is what leads us, sensitizes us, and binds us to him. Being yoked to Jesus makes us partners with him in restoring God’s creation in every sphere of life, as we explored in 2 Cor. 5:16–21. No   other yoke that would pull us away from the yoke of Jesus could ever be equal to that! “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light,” Jesus tells us (Matt. 11:29).”

It is almost impossible not to work with or have family members who are not believers. But, the image of the yoke implies being bound to the other person. When you yoke two animals together they do not have an independent choice. Uncomfortable as it may be, they must do things together. The  yoke does not permit independent action. There is something that forces you to comply with what the other one wants to do, whether you like it or not. Any kind of relationship that does not permit a believer to follow the Lord Jesus Christ in all things is a yoke. Even a friendship can be a yoke. If it is the kind of possessive friendship in which you feel you cannot do what God wants you to do because you will offend your friend, then that is a yoke, and it must   be broken.

What say you Christian, do any of your relationships inhibit your  freedom to love and obey God with all our heart, mind, and soul?

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark