Why were so many of the Corinthian Christians seeing things in the worldly way? One of the reasons may be that they were imbibing too much worldly influence through their relationships. Of course, God wants us to be friends with people who may not share our beliefs. He wants us to be devoted to non-believers in love, but he does not want us to be yoked to them. A ‘yoke’ is a wooden bar that binds two animals together so that they can pull the same load. The picture here is of two people bound to each other in a way that commits them to serving the same purpose. A Christian is a person who is yoked to Jesus. This means that they are devoted to a way of living that has completely different priorities and goals to that of others. I have seen so many Christians pulled away from Christ because of a relationship with a non-Christian person. Sometimes it goes the other way. But this is always because the Christian partner puts their commitment to Jesus first. Paul wants Christians to remain committed to formal relationships that were in place when they came to faith. He does not see a problem here so long as the influence goes the right way (1 Corinthians 7:12-16). But to choose, at the outset, to bind yourself to a person (whether in marriage or a significant business partnership) who is clearly pursuing a different life direction is to put yourself in danger. It is easier to pull a person down than it is to pull a person up.
Consider your relationships and those who influence you in light of today’s reading.
Read 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1
