Burn Bridges

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” (2Ti 2:19 AV)

 

No mystery here.  The meaning cannot be confused.  Paul clearly tells us that if we are going to claim to be a Christian, we should strive to live like one.  In particular, to depart from iniquity.  The word for depart here is not how we normally think of when we think of departing.  When we think of departing, it is usually a casual separation.  Like departing on a plane or departing from a building.  It is a natural flow of one’s actions determined before the direction is laid down.  There is no fanfare.  There is no big commotion.  We simply wait for the announcement for our flight, we get up, we hug someone, and we climb aboard.  We sit down, relax, take out a book, or plug in our earbuds and sit back.  Then the plane taxis, takes off, reaches altitude, and proceeds.  We have departed.  However, the word here means a radical departure.  Like a revolt.  The word means to instigate to revolt; to desist, to desert; withdraw self.  The idea is not a casual departure.  Rather, a violent one.  One packed with emotion and determination.  A departure that burns all bridges.  A departure that detests any possibility of return.

I have a son who is a rabid sports fan.  Anything with a score, he is interested.  He lives and breathes competition.  He had his favorite teams.  However, they switched off and on.  They switched rather frequently.  So, we learned not to purchase him anything team related that might be valuable because if you give it a year, he will change his mind.  That is until he settled on one particular team  He had learned they won several championships.  So, if they happened to do poorly, he could always fall back on the past.  This was going well for a few years.  They won another championship.  He was elated.  Then following that year, they tanked.  He was embarrassed.  Falling back on the success of the past was all of a sudden not sufficient.  He learned that loyalty to one’s locale or place of origin was far more satisfying than to root for a winner who will eventually turn out to be a loser.  At least you were rooting for your home team.  But what was he going to do with all that stuff he had collected?  What was he going to do with the posters, the pennants, the hats, gloves, etc?  Outside of an expensive coat he had which he outgrew anyway, he burned it all!  He was calling himself a fan of a new team.  In essence, he had a new name.  He didn’t simply leave his former team.  In the biblical sense, he departed.  With prejudice.

Paul tells us, “And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.” (2Co 10:6 KJB) By trusting Jesus Christ as our Savior, we have joined a different team.  We are now a son of God.  We are called by a new name.  That name is the name of our LORD God Jehovah.  Names mean something.  Especially if we call ourselves by that name.  We are not always successful at departing from sin.  We fail more times than we care to admit.  But, the instruction is still there.  If we call ourselves a Christian, then we need to violently remove ourselves from iniquity.  Not a polite departure.  Rather, we need to burn those bridges behind us so that we can no longer entertain a thought of returning.  Paul also tells us to cast off the works of darkness.  This has the same understanding.  It means to fling as far away from us as we can the works of the flesh and sin.  We don’t need a ten-step system to overcome evil.  What we need is a decisive event in our lives that casts off and removes from our lives that which is displeasing to God.  If we violently remove that which God hates, the steps to doing that will find themselves.  We will avoid passing by it.  We will memorize the word of God and relevant passages that give us the strength to say ‘no’.  We will pray earnestly and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit.  But we first must depart!