Come out, Come out, Wherever You Are...

By Robin Caldwell

“Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord…” (2 Corinthians 6: 17)

My cell phone was blowing up; the caller was a person I had no interest in speaking with or even entertaining. It would be an utter waste of my time, to answer the call and pretend like I was truly interested in what he had to say. It would have been a waste of energy to pretend to be anything, including annoyed, with this person.

Thank God, I had the presence of mind to add this guy’s phone numbers to my cell phone’s phone book. I wanted to be able to identify him and exercise the choice of not answering his calls. (Memo to people who think phone technology is totally useless: Caller I.D. really comes in handy.)

The caller was a nuisance only in that he had deceived me in the recent past. He also played games to justify his deception. Let’s just call it what it is: Dude was a skilled con man, a person who had no intention of keeping his word, and at the end of the day, he was nothing more than a thief and a liar. His mission statement was, “charm and disarm them.”

I was introduced to him by a person who ironically (or not) introduced me to the only other person to play the exact same game with me. Do you see the common thread?

Initially, I thought she was naïve, a person who had a hard time discerning good from bad, godly from evil, and an instant mark for people who could tell her anything she’d believe as gospel truth. I had genuine compassion for her, because I could see that she too was being used, or so I thought.

Someone wiser, and much more adept at seeing duplicity than I, suggested to me that the woman who had introduced me to these people actually was just as bad as them. I found that hard to digest given for the few years I had known her, I had never witnessed anything duplicitous about her – at least nothing I paid close attention to.

“No, she’s complicit,” my wise friend said, adamantly. “As long as she refuses to acknowledge the blind spot she has with people, she’s just as bad as they are. Leave her alone, she’s dangerous.”

Dangerous was a strong word, but I’m teachable. My questions started with the wise friend and expanded to the heavenlies. How could this be? How could she, who was a bit naïve, be complicit in their duplicity? How could she be dangerous?

Well, the wise friend explained that she was dangerous because her pride would not enable her to admit that she, too, had made an error in judgment about these people. The other scenario was that she potentially knew that these people were deceptive in their practices, and simply did not tell me, which would make her complicit and severely dangerous. I remembered her reaction to the news that the guy she introduced me to had deceived me in business, and essentially, she said that he had not done that to her (making it okay, I guess), and boasted about being shrewd in business, implying that I was not. Therein was my first clue to her character, something I’d obviously missed.

My wise friend also shared that this woman derived some pleasure from their company. She had something to gain from being around Bible-quoting, smiling and soft-spoken – having a form of godliness yet denying the power – deceitful people. Though I couldn’t think of anything immediately, the verse about silly women being carried away by their own lusts returned to my memory. Isn’t that the origins of all sinful behavior, the lusts of our hearts? She often made certain sacrifices to receive whatever pittance of prosperity these folks threw in her path; essentially, she prostituted herself – her dignity, her gifts, and me by turning a deliberate blind eye to their not-so godly characters.

The Apostle Peter stated, “By these He has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:4, Holman)

Borrowing an expression from my beloved grandmother, “She sold me for a nickel,” I said to my wise friend. And my wise friend concurred, offering more advice.

“She has a form of godliness but denies the power thereof, cut her loose.”

That was a major thing to chew on. However, in the middle of the night, I was awakened to and heard clearly, “Come out from among them,” which confirmed the wise counsel I had received earlier. The only difference was that I also heard, “They will pay,” and on that reassuring note, I fell back to sleep peacefully.

Back to the caller: I told my buddy, “He’s up to something.” She agreed and furthered, “Yeah, he’s stupid because he really thinks you’re stupid. He thinks that God is stupid, too.” We had to laugh because it was true, deceitful people don’t think God is smart or that He cares about their activities.

“Come out from among them…”

The Lord has established rules for sanctification for His people. Sanctified isn’t some form of worship or a sect of Christianity involving extremists or fanatics; it is the state of being separate and called apart from those who do not follow or adhere to God’s holy ordinances. One of God’s chief rules of engagement is, “Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6: 14)

Being separate or sanctified applies to every aspect of our lives, from romantic and platonic relationships to business and even to worship. There are many believers in Christ who fellowship and become entangled with professing saints who don’t exhibit the fruit of the Spirit though they may exhibit some reasonable facsimile thereof – a counterfeit behavior. And when we do, we fall short and fellowship with darkness, which can be potentially dangerous.

It took being duped and deceived for me to understand the value of being separate – being sanctified. The measures God took to pull me out from among people, who are thieves, liars, adulterers, etc., were astounding and costly but highly effective. And now the measures I have to take to remain separate are even more astounding – I can’t take those calls, and I won’t even put myself in a position to be duped once again.

Sanctification is proving to be a safe place for me. It is proving to be a state, I should I hope to never leave. In obeying God, accepting my sanctification, and refusing fellowship with darkness, I am indeed protected.

As for the common thread woman and her “friends,” well, it is written, “These people are … walking according to their desires; their mouths utter arrogant words, flattering people for their own advantage … These people create divisions and are merely natural, not having the Spirit.” (Jude 16-19)

“Come out from among them…”