MISMATED IN MINISTRY

Christians must have wide open hearts (2 Cor. 6:13) combined with single-minded devotion (2 Cor. 6:14). Paul qualifies his command to open their hearts with a second command to avoid becoming mismated in ministry. He writes, "Do not continue becoming mismated with faithless people (2 Cor. 6:14).

The verb "mismated" or "unequally yoked" (ἑτεροζυγοῦντες) is a present participle indicating ongoing activity. The present imperative "become" (γίνεσθε) when combined with the adversative "not" (μὴ) implies that the Christians need to stop something they are already doing (Hughes, 2 Corinthians in NICNT, p.245, fn6). Being mismated was most commonly used for draft animals that needed different yokes such as a donkey and an ox (BAGD, p.314). Paul was almost certainly thinking about the Old Testament laws regarding plowing or breeding with mismated animals (Deut. 22:10; Lev. 19:19). If they are unevenly yoked, the work will suffer (Hughes, p.244).

If we are unevenly yoked, our ministries will suffer. Some have argued that the word "faithless" (ἀπίστοις) should be understood as referring narrowly to Paul's opponents at Corinth and not broadly to non-Christians in general. However, Paul frequently used the word almost in a technical sense to refer to unbelievers (eg. 1 Cor. 6:6; 7:12-15). Furthermore, if he was thinking of his opponents why did he not use the term later in his letter (2 Cor. 10-13) when he was specifically addressing them (Martin, 2 Corinthians, WBC, pp. 196-197). I conclude that Paul is commanding us to avoid any entanglements with unbelievers that would compromise our service for Christ.

What practical matter is Paul addressing by this command? What is the contemporary life parallel to our day? He cannot mean that we should avoid all contact with non-Christians to live in our Christian cloisters (1 Cor. 5:10). The most common application in our day is that Paul is prohibiting the marriage of a Christian to a non-Christian. While this is certainly a legitimate application of the principle, it is unlikely that Paul was specifically addressing inter-marriage in this context. He goes on to discuss being the "temple of God" and not serving "idols" (2 Cor. 6:16-18). His supporting quotes are more appropriately understood as referring to pagan feasts in temples devoted to idol worship (Witherington, Conflict and Community, p.405).

The Corinthian cultural context helps us frame some powerful parallels to our lives today. The political/social/economic structure of Corinthian life was the patron/client relationship. Wealthy patrons governed the economic, political and social life of the city. The elite controlled life. A patron would take on clients who owed him for their jobs and position in society. If anyone wanted to be successful in the business world and enjoy the benefits of the social and political life of the city, he must pledge his loyalty to a patron. The patron would often host large dinners and other socio/political events to which the client would be invited. Every ambitious businessman desired to be included in these events so would pledge his allegiance to the patron.

Each patron would align himself with one of the gods or goddesses of the Greco-Roman pantheon as his patron god. Often the dinners were held in the temples devoted to these idols, so Christians were expected to participate in the worship of the patron's idol. The socio-political events were tinged by the imperial cult of Rome and the worship of the Roman emperor as well. Christians were pressured to compromise their faith to get ahead in life. Many Christians argued that idols were not real anyway so what was the harm in participating in these social and political events. Couldn't they help Christians be successful, and so influence the pagan world? (John Chow, "Patronage in Roman Corinth," in Richard Horsely, editor, Paul and Empire: Religion and Power in Roman Imperial Society, pp.104-125).

The best contemporary life parallels to this command revolve around the social, economic and political pressures that can seduce us into compromising our faith in the pursuit of success. We must avoid any entanglement that leads us to minimize Christ's call on our lives. There must be no divided loyalties that would cause us to lose the consistency of our witness for the Lord. We must not trade our commitment to Christ for social, political and economic success in this world. If we do, we become mismated in our relationships.

NOTE: For those of you regular readers who have wondered about my blog absence these past few months, I had to take some time off from writing. I have been going through a major transition in life as I retired from the position of Senior Pastor at a church I have served for 28 years. My wife too retired from her career, and we are settling into a new normal. I look forward to writing and teaching in my ministry with The Rephidim Project in the days ahead.