When the hope of an accomplishment, an unusual opportunity, or the promise of personal notoriety is offered to us, it’s too easy to place ourselves under a yoke of compromise with individuals, groups, or worldviews that are contrary to our calling as a child of God. This union is encouraged by people or groups living in the bondage of compromised morals and ethics and the abandonment of the truth as expressed in God’s word. 

 Paul wrote, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (II Corinthians 6:14). The phrase “unequally yoked together” uses the metaphor of a team of oxen yoked together pulling a heavy load. The phrase has been also translated as mismatched, bound together, teamed up, or mismated under the same yoke of agreement.  Two different species cannot work together under the same yoke.

To some, this verse sounds confusing. It seems to infer a separation from the very people we are trying to reach with the Gospel. It’s not saying that. This verse refers to joining in partnerships with people who are pulling toward a goal that is not redemptive. 

If the above verse sounds harsh, it gets even more specific in the following verses when four pointed questions are asked.  “How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?  What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?  (vs. 14-15). 

What this verse is saying is that believers and unbelievers will not arrive at the same goal if they try to form a partnership to make the journey under a yoke of agreement thinking they will both arrive at the same destination. 

Paul said in his first letter to the Corinthians, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings” (I Corinthians 9: 22-23).  For Paul, the desire to become all things to all people was motivated by a single goal – the salvation of souls. That was Paul’s only motivation and the only yoke under which he allowed himself to be placed. 

As a follower of Christ, we can work together with anyone up until it becomes clear we have allowed ourselves to become yoked with deception or evil intent. At that point, an unyoking must occur, or the very purpose of our lives will be hijacked because we allowed ourselves to be joined to a yoke of agreement that does not fulfill our redemptive calling. Before we slip our neck into any yoke of agreement, we need to know our fellow travelers have the same goal in mind or the results will be painful and disastrous to the cause of Christ.