We live in a time that treats being different as a problem to be solved. Blend in, get along, keep the peace. But Scripture keeps calling God’s people toward something that cuts against that instinct. It calls us to be holy, to be set apart, and it ties that calling to a very ordinary question, the question of who we allow to shape us.
We Become Like the People We Keep Close
Few verses are quoted more often than the plain warning that bad company corrupts good morals (). The book of Proverbs says the same thing without softening it, that whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm (). Notice it does not say might suffer harm. The whole book of Psalms opens with a blessing on the person who refuses to walk in step with the wicked (). We tend to give ourselves too much credit here. We assume we will be the strong one, the good influence, and experience quietly proves how often it goes the other way.
Some Things Simply Do Not Belong Together
Paul put it directly, do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, and then he asked what partnership light could have with darkness (). He was reaching back to an old command not to plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together (). Put two mismatched animals under one yoke and the stronger one drags the other off course. The principle reaches far beyond farming. It touches marriage, friendship, and every close tie we form. When the purity we are called to and the pollution of the world are harnessed together, something usually has to give.
Good Company Is a Gift
This is not a call to isolation. Scripture also celebrates the blessing of the right people. Two are better than one, because if either falls, his companion can lift him up (). We are told to carry one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ (). The goal is not to cut everyone off, it is to choose carefully, to surround ourselves with people who make it easier, not harder, to follow the Lord.
Remember Who You Are
Paul grounds this whole appeal in a stunning fact, that we are the temple of the living God (), a truth he had already pressed on them once before (). More than that, God has promised to be a Father to us, and to call us his sons and daughters (). The apostle John could hardly get over it. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God (). When we truly grasp who we are, the pull to look like everyone else loses much of its grip.
Holiness Is Both a Gift and a Pursuit
In one sense, God has already made us holy. By his will we have been set apart through the offering of the body of Jesus once for all (). But there is also a holiness we grow into. Since we have these promises, Paul writes, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God (). Peter says it as a command, as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct (). Holiness is not an accident. It is a decision we make about the kind of people we are going to be.
Why It Is Worth the Effort
Many people treat holiness as an optional extra, something added on top of belief when there is time. But the writer of Hebrews will not let us think that way. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord (). None of this earns God’s favor, for it is by grace that we are saved through faith. Yet grace and holiness were never meant to be pried apart. God has promised to dwell with his people and to be their Father, and he calls those same people to be different from the world around them. That is the life worth striving for, today, tomorrow, and into eternity.