Bound with unbelievers

by Dan Grubbs

My previous post may seem like it made too far a stretch to connect King Saul with Rick Warren. I understand that sentiment. However, I think there are other biblical teachings that directly apply to this situation in which Rick Warren finds himself.

2 Corinthians 6:14-15 is the main text I'll refer to in my disagreement with Warren accepting the invitation to deliver the prayer for the inauguration. Paul is teaching the believers in Corinth not to connect themselves with the false teachers around them, and secondarilly, not to associate themselves with unbelievers. The passage reads:

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have
righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or
what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an
unbeliever?

In application to our own lives, the idea of being bound together is often referred to as unequally yoked, as two draft animals yoked together to work for a common purpose. If you yoke two oxen that aren't matched as a collaborative pair, you can't plow the field properly. If believers yoke themselves together with those who are in opposition to God and His word, they will be unequally yoked.

It is clear that President-elect Obama stands in opposition to God on many issues. This fact cannot be denied. What partnership can we, as believers, have with one who so starkly stands in opposition to the God whom we serve?

Continuing in the 2 Corinthian passage, God calls believers out from among such as President-elect Obama, whose public position on many issues count him as one associated with darkness.

Should we pray for Mr. Obama? Absolutely! Not only as the leader of our nation, but more importantly, for his relationship with God to be healed. Yet, Mr. Warren will not be praying for Mr. Obama's salvation on Jan. 20, but instead, will be by his presence, endorsing the agenda of the chief executive.