2 Corinthians 6:14-15 “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?”
I used to believe that this verse was somehow telling us to not associate with unbelievers. I think that we most commonly use it to say, “Don’t marry an unbeliever”. I still hear Christians use this verse to tell fellow Christians to stay away from the very people we are called to share God’s love with, but I have come to believe that this verse is not just a warning for marriage and certainly not telling us to only make friends with saved people.
This realization did not come to me until I spent 6 months training and working with oxen and several days hand-carving my very own ox yoke. Most people today don’t know what a yoke is. Some may have seen a yoke or at least a picture of one. Thanks to this verse many of you may have gotten an explanation from a pastor. Perhaps it sounded something like this, “a yoke is worn around the neck of animals and binds them together. In my young head, this explanation of a yoke and the verse created an image of two people just standing in a field physically linked together and being looked upon by all as one entity. So, we don’t want to be yoked with an unbeliever because we don’t want to be seen as being connected with them? This conclusion did not seem consistent with Jesus’ actions while on earth or even his move to come among us on earth in the first place. The verse and the self-righteousness placed behind it by many Christians made me uncomfortable, but this is what I thought the verse meant based on my understanding. But do we understand what an ox yoke is?
I am not just asking if you know what it looks like, but what is it? What is its purpose and significance? This was once a common every day object that Paul used to make an illustration. What was he saying?
An ox yoke is a tool. It is a simple yet effective devise for harnessing the power of two individual beings for a common goal. A yoke turns two animals into a working team of oxen. How many beings are in this team? If you said two, you are missing the bigger picture and probably have not had the privilege of watching a skilled ox driver with his team. This is a team of three. The driver, usually called a drover, is an essential part of this team. He tells the oxen where to go and what to do. He encourages and disciplines them as necessary. But in order for this to work, the oxen need to trust their drover and listen to him.
What happens if both oxen decide that they do not want to have anything to do with this drover? Well, I can tell you from first-hand experience that they will wander about in their yoke and eat grass. No work will get done that day. However, if both oxen decide that the drover is their master and are listening and obeying him, much will be accomplished, and they will become a great asset to the drover.
What happens if one ox is listening, but the other refuses to heed the drover’s commands? The obedient ox will not only be pushing the yoke and trying to do the drover’s work, but will also be dragging and fighting against the disobedient ox. The disobedient ox will be constantly pulling the obedient ox away from the drover. Not only is this a frustrating and exhausting experience for the obedient ox, but it also means that the drover’s work will suffer for it. The fields will not get plowed, the seeds will not be planted, and the harvest will not be gathered in.
I am not a great theologian, but I want to share with you what I, as a follower of Christ and a driver of oxen, believe Paul was trying to say to the followers of Christ and drivers of oxen in Corinth.
God is our drover. He directs our paths and encourages and disciplines us as necessary. He created us for community. He desires for us to practice our faith with others in the body, in teams. He has given us a common goal and has called us to the same work.
We need to be yoked, paired, joined with those who will push alongside us to the same end. We need to be connected with those who are following the same voice. A Biblical marriage, one that is lived out as the Bible has charged marriages to be, is a great example of this, but this is not just a marriage verse. We need to be connected with a community of like-minded believers so that we can work together to accomplish the work that God is commanding us to do. We see this in Jesus’ life. He lived with, loved, walked, and befriended unbelievers, but he was not yoked with them. He chose faithful followers as his apostles, his teammates.
This verse is not telling us to shun unbelievers. It just says that we need to be bound with believers to do God’s work as he has commanded. Those connections should not be with unbelievers because, “What partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?” They have no common work or goal. “Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” The light only drives away the darkness and the darkness can add nothing to the light. “What accord has Christ with Belial?” These two masters (or drovers) direct their followers in very different directions.
Keep your unbelieving friends. Speak into their lives with all of the God given love and wisdom you have. Eat with them. Laugh with them. Cry with them, but don’t yoke yourself to them. Instead, you need to be harnessed with those who are listening to the same commands that you are and responding in unity. I don’t know what yoking up in your life looks like, but get connected ,and get out there.