Set Apart :: Deeper Devotion

Psalm 101
I will sing of your love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will sing praise. I will be careful to lead a blameless life… when will you come to me? I will walk in my house with blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of the faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me. Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil. Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him I will not endure. My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he whose walk is blameless will minister to me. No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence. Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land; I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the Lord.

In an age when acceptance is essential to finding a listening ear, I believe we have lost sight of the idea that we are to be “set apart.” Society tells us that knowledge is equivalent to tolerance; anyone who stands for something conservative or morally anchored must be an uninformed bigot who refuses to listen to reason. We need to walk with the sinners and dine with the tax collectors, right? Yes and no.

I disagree with a trend that I have seen in which Christians work so hard to make their non-Christian friends feel loved and accepted for who they are, that they come to a point where there is no difference between the two. They lead the very same lives with the same social calendar and the same priorities, except one privately bears the title “Christian.”

Please do not mistake what I am saying; I believe firmly that we are to love all men as our brothers and that we are to meet sinners where they are at, but I also believe that we will one day be held accountable for our every action while here on earth. Once we accept the salvation given us through the death and resurrection of Christ, we are to be working toward holiness and sanctification. David understood the concept when he wrote this psalm. I find it no coincidence that in other portions of scripture he is described as a man after God’s own heart. If David was so sensitive to God that the Creator himself recognized his discernment, should we not take a moment to reflect on what it was that David prayed?

David proclaims to the Lord that he will not tolerate wickedness. He promises the Lord a blameless heart and separation from those who practice evil. Not only that, but he also promises to silence the slanderer and cut off every evildoer from the city of the Lord. Kind of a harsh policy, isn’t it? I mean, shouldn’t he have given those people a chance. After all, we all sin once in a while, shouldn’t he have shown a little mercy?

NO! We are not to tolerate any form of wickedness or sin against our God. God is holy and cannot be associated with sin. In the same way, we are working toward holiness and should not allow it to creep into our life in any way, shape, or form; whether in our thoughts or through the influence of others. We are at war with evil and we cannot afford to let any one of the enemy’s soldiers in our camp! We must pursue holiness at all costs, even if it means the loss of friendship or family. Yes, we are to love; but love must sometimes be stern. We must speak the truth to those participating in evil or worldly practices and then we must remove ourselves from the threat to our walk. People today seem so concerned with ministry that they have forgotten their own accountability. Providing friendship to a lost soul does not matter if one doesn’t have his very own soul in order.

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