We know it’s a general principle that being “holy unto the Lord” means a degree of separation from the ambient moral perversion around us. At the same time, we are told to go out into the fallen world and shine the light of divine glory. It’s typical of divine moral truth that it comes out in human words as a paradox.
Think about the context for each of these admonitions. Being separate shows up in 2 Corinthians 6:11-18. The context is Paul admonishing the Corinthian Christians to withdraw from the highly self-indulgent culture of Corinth, a city that catered to sailors. Corinth offered any number of shrines housing temple prostitutes, along with just about every other hedonistic pleasure known in those days. The Corinthian Christians needed a whole lot of separation from that perverse atmosphere in order to bear a clear witness against sin. It’s echoed in Revelation 18:1-8 with pretty much the same contextual message, though the symbolic reference is Babylon, instead of the very real corruption of Corinth.
We can find all sorts of similar admonitions throughout the Bible about keeping your distance from morally foul situations. The whole idea is to highlight the difference between sin and the divine calling.
Yet, when Jesus told His disciples to take the gospel into the whole world, He was addressing men from a nation that had come to regard themselves as holy by default, having no need for repentance. It had been a long time since Israel was some kind of magnet to souls seeking redemption. In many ways, they were the most cloistered people in the world. They went everywhere seeking commerce, but it was seldom beneficial to the Gentile customers. It was exploitative commerce, seeking to morally seduce people they actually despised. Yes, there were a few Pharisees who prided themselves in rhetorical exploits and coaxing people to convert to Judaism, but only so they could tax the crap out of them. Jewish authorities ran the most abusive tax schemes in the world at that time.
Side note: The Jewish spite for tax collectors was a matter of hating them for competition. If the common folk were paying taxes to the Romans or the corrupt Kings of Judea, there wasn’t much left for the Pharisees to squeeze out of them.
Thus, what Jesus was telling the Apostles was to take a totally different message, promoting a totally different image of Jehovah, out into that same world. These men would have borne a very similar level of cloistered separation from the ambient corruption, yet gladly coming to do them good by seeking to spread shalom everywhere. It wasn’t a matter of suckering folks into submitting to a torturous legalistic regimen, but something that would set them free and empower them to live consistent with Creation’s design.
Rather than going out to plunder a despised Gentile world, as Jews did, the Christians were supposed to colonize that world with the gospel truth. They certainly retained much of their Jewish cultural heritage, but the Apostles understood full well what that heritage meant as a message of truth. Judaism had long forgotten the meaning.
The message of Radix Fidem is not the same kind of radical shift as between Judaism and Christian faith. It’s radical in a different sense. Some form of Christian religion is already established all over the world; we already have a foundation on which to build. So while you may have individually a very real missionary call to travel, it’s generally unnecessary for Radix Fidem. We get a lot more done using the Internet. And our message most certainly is not a lone voice for the gospel, but it’s a message for very slender minority from within the wider Christian religion. It’s not elitist, but very demanding nonetheless.
The gospel is for everyone; the Radix Fidem covenant is not. There’s no doubt we sense that this is what God really intended for those following Christ, but we should know beyond all doubt that God isn’t going to make this a universal call. Not yet.
This is where you’ll have to trust me as a prophet. This whole thing is 100% voluntary, but if you feel called to share in the blessings of my moral covering as your shepherd, you’ll need a conviction that I’m not misleading you: Our message depends on tribulation. Shaking people loose from their false religions requires shattering those religious strongholds. That can’t be done with rhetoric. It requires the hand of God.
Thus, in broad general terms, I’m calling for more outreach via the Internet, which is now a virtual public market place, rather like those where the Apostles preached as they traveled. Right now the meat-space part of our lives calls for more separation. This is a time to pull away from the prevailing atmosphere, to cloister ourselves to some degree. Invest more energy in building a sense of strong boundaries, of holiness as separation. And to the degree possible, consider ways to do that literally.
I’m not going to nail down details for that kind of thing. You have to invest in your household, especially the children, the sense that they aren’t being deprived of the goodies enjoyed by everyone outside the household, but that they enjoy a strong noble privilege by not being trapped in worldly things. Holiness is an adventure and an advantage. Don’t make it some harsh, dour legalism, but a joyful freedom from perversion. If those in your domain see you celebrating holiness and relishing the sweet communion with God and His Creation, they will tend to want in on it.
And they will equally tend to mimic your moral failures, too, so be careful to seek the Lord’s strength. You can’t hide sin forever. The people closest to you will sense something wrong because, if nothing else, the Devil will expose you. It’s best to be humble and let them see your penitent heart.
Jesus warned His disciples in Matthew 24-25 about a very literal siege of Jerusalem coming in about 70 AD. His instructions were to keep a watch for that kind of trouble and be ready to flee without looking back. We aren’t likely to see troops laying siege like that, but there are plenty of signs that tell you disorder and destruction are coming. Jesus didn’t mean for every last believer to leave Jerusalem; some stayed to maintain their personal mission calling. Still, the bulk of them left. I’m calling on you to be aware that wherever you live may be the wrong place to stay as tribulation deepens on the world.
