![[Photo of a Scripture verse]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/2_Corinthians_6_14.jpg)
| “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers…” |
| —2 Corinthians 6:14a |
When we read through the Bible, we sometimes come upon a passage of Scripture, or an individual verse, that strikes us as harsh or unrealistic. We react negatively to the instruction contained in that passage or verse. Why? Most likely because we become convicted about something we’ve done, continue to do, or intend to do.
But, when we take a step back and examine the passage or verse carefully, we usually can sense the nudging of the Holy Spirit, Who dwells within us, reminding us that all such passages and verses exist for our benefit. God always has our best interest at heart. So, when we read such an instruction, it is because God wants to protect us from making bad choices.
Thus it is with the instruction given by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:14:
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
To fully understand the implications of this verse, we must first look at the imagery that Paul uses. He refers to the team of oxen that have been yoked in order to work together and harmoniously perform a specific task. The yoke demands their cooperation. The yoke is designed to insist that the oxen move forward together, putting equal pressure on the yoke, in order to steer a straight path.
So, to apply this verse, we must examine those occasions in life when we must work in total harmony with someone else in order to accomplish a task. We must pool our talents, gifts, and abilities in such a way that, together, we can move forward in a straight and true manner.
There are many situations in life where such a yoking becomes critically important. Marriage, for example, requires a man and woman to become fully one in body, mind, and spirit. Not setting aside the beauty of their individual differences, but absolutely yoking their strengths in total harmony in order to move forward in life. A couple committed to live in that kind of unity provides a natural and necessary exclusion from any distractions that will challenge the harmony of their relationship.
The same concept can apply to business, or any other relationship, that requires partners to proceed in absolute harmony in order to most effectively accomplish a goal or satisfy an objective.
Paul, himself a Pharisee and scholar of the Old Testament Scriptures, remembers that God has given specific prohibitions regarding the yoking of animals, as found in the Pentateuch, specifically in Deuteronomy 22:10:
Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.
It is important to note that in Jewish Law the ox was considered a clean animal and the donkey was considered an unclean animal. So, the rule against unequal yoking also had spiritual consequences. Would the stubbornness of the donkey prevent the ox from plowing a straight furrow?
It’s also important to note that the warning from 2 Corinthians 6:14 applies “before the fact.” In other words, if a believer is already yoked to an unbeliever, this warning does not mean that the believer should terminate the relationship. In fact, in the case of marriage, Paul, speaking for himself, not the Lord, specifically warns against a person who becomes a believer divorcing a partner who is an unbeliever (1 Corinthians 7:12-14).
While most of us have a “don’t tell me what to do” attitude, we do well if we heed warnings in Scripture. God has given them for our own good. Before we choose to yoke ourselves to an unbeliever in completing some critically important task, we should carefully consider the consequences, at least to the extent that we have control over the situation.
