The Horizon

Charles Spurgeon once told the about “the man who preached so well and lived so badly that when he was in the pulpit everybody said he ought never to come out again, and when he was out of it they all declared he never ought to enter it again.” The pastor is rightly expected to practice what he preaches, but the admonition to holy living is not limited to the man in the pulpit; all Christians should understand they are called to live a life that is set apart. 

That is why Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers to “come out from among them and be separate…and do not touch the unclean thing (2 Corinthians 6:17).” The Greek work translated as separate is haphorizo, from where we get our English word horizon. While we may typically think of the horizon as referring to something off in the distance (as in “something good is coming over the horizon”), that is not what the word means. According to the dictionary, horizon is “the line or circle that forms the apparent boundary between earth and sky.” The horizon, then, is what separates two things. 

Followers of Jesus have been called to be the horizon—completely separate from the world. I believe the church never has more to offer the lost world than when the church looks least like the world. Pastors in particular and Christians in general seem to be embracing this tendency to look like the world instead being the horizon. But separation isn’t limited to just the negative; it is not only about what we are separated from, but also what we are separated to. In Romans 1:1 Paul introduced himself as an apostle “separated unto the gospel of God,” and it is the same word haphorizo again. We need to be the horizon, separated from this evil world, and set apart in a positive way to live our lives for the Father. Let’s be that something good people can see over the horizon.

Separation

In the Bible’s opening chapter we see God create every tangible thing in the universe, but He also created some intangible things. For example God created time, days, the seven-day week, and the Sabbath concept of a day of rest. But He also gave us a glimpse of something that would prove to be the imperative doctrine of separation.

Notice the repetition of the verb separate in just five verses of Genesis 1:

6 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 Thus God made the firmament, and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so…14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years…17 God set [the sun and moon] in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.

Four times in five verses we see separation. I believe God inspired Moses to emphasize this separation because it was a foreshadowing of salvation and the Christian life. Separation is synonymous with holiness, and God is holy. God is completely unlike anything in the universe, so we can say that God is separate. He is separate from Allah, separate from Buddha, separate from Zeus. That is why He declares, “I am Yahweh, beside me there is no other (Isaiah 45:5).”

In order for us to be saved we must also become separated from the world. The Father instructs us to “Come out from among them and be separate…Do not touch what is unclean (2 Corinthians 6:17),” and “Be Holy for I am holy (1 Peter 1:16).” We must chose to become so unlike the world that we stand out like a sore thumb.

Holiness, the process of separating ourselves, remains an ongoing work as long as we live down here. A third synonym for separation and holiness is sanctification, which Paul stated was the will of the Lord for our lives (1 Thessalonians 4:3). The more we are sanctified the more the world will notice our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.

Just as the Creator separated light from darkness during the first week, He will one day separate the sheep from the goats. To the former He will say, “Well done;” to the latter He will say, “Depart from me.” Separate yourself from the world now, or you may be separated on Judgment Day.