Be Not Unequally Yoked, Eve Revere

Be  Not  Unequally  Yoked

In order to understand this teaching of Jesus, it is necessary
to consider what yoking means and what an unbeliever is.

A yoke couples two animals together that must pull the load
to which they are yoked with equal or near equal ability, in the same direction,
and with the same or nearly the same height.
If the animals are of different heights, with different strengths,
they will not be able to provide a balanced pull.
The yoke will twist.
The animal making the greater effort will be pulling off centre.
The load will not be able to progress straight down the road
or may not be able to be moved at all.

Commonly, the word “unbeliever” is claimed to apply
to one who does not believe in Jesus as a saviour.
That understanding or misunderstanding involves the question of
what Jesus saves the one who believes in him from?
The usual answer to that question is that the belief in Jesus, as saviour,
saves the one who believes in him from sin.
That introduces the further question: is it the practice of sin
or the consequences of sin, from which one is saved, or is it both?

The Work of Belief
Here it is suggested that an unbeliever is one
who does not practice the work of belief.
Here it is suggested that an unbeliever is one who derives his or her belief(s)
from his or her experience rather than deriving his or her experience,
from the practice of belief.
Belief takes the lead.
Belief is a work of the mind, the heart, the whole of one’s being.
A believer is one who heeds the saying,
“anything and everything one believes either is true or tends to become true
as a result of having believed it.”
This saying is attributed, in a slightly different form, to the Psychiatrist
and psychiatric researcher, John Lily, M. D.

So, to not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever means
to not be coupled to a task, a work, an effort, that requires that you pull
with equal or near equal strength of belief or faith, in the same direction.
To be yoked to a believer, is to be coupled as an ally, as an associate,
to a common work of faith.

To be equally yoked is not just a matter of agreeing upon what you believe,
a common creed.
To be equally yoked is a matter of practicing the use of belief,
the work of belief, together.

Copyright 2011, 2013, ECOhealth / Eve Revere