Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you.
(2 Corinthians 6:17)

November 1999. The sheep herd at Psalm 23 Camp has been closed for a number of years. A closed herd means that no outside sheep have been introduced into the flock. The herd has been closed to new females for 15 years and closed to new males for about half that time. A closed herd can have its problems, but I shall concentrate on the good things.

During 1982, ‘83 and ‘84 we purchased more than 200 ewes with which to build our flock. For several years we must have had every sheep disease between here and eastern Colorado. We vaccinated and doctored for everything going it seems. Through careful selection, management and a great deal of perseverance I have witnessed the evolution of the type herd I had envisioned, not complete, but going in that direction.

Adaptation to the environment was central to the changes in my flock. In other words the sheep that reside here now do well with the type grazing lands, the temperatures, the rainfall, the topography, the type diseases prevalent, and the type care we give (or don’t give.) I had to make some hard choices that eliminated some sheep that would otherwise likely reproduced a “like kind,” thus perpetuating the characteristics I did not like with that sheep.

Folks, that’s where we are in 1999. The Scripture shown above has probably never been more relevant. When God says, “Come out from them and be separate” most of us cringe a bit wondering about what “goodies” we might have to forfeit if we are obedient to that command. Besides, have you noticed that people don’t like to be told what they can’t have? For that matter we don’t really like to be told to do anything. Most of the mistakes we make today as Christians are centered on our efforts to play our game using their (the world’s) playing field. Sorry it ain’t gonna happen. It’s not your best use of time trying to get NBC, ABC, CNN, and CBS to tell your Christian story.

It’s not your best use of time trying to get elected officials in Washington to sponsor your “Christian bill.” It’s not your best use of time going to the local PTA meeting with thoughts of getting your Christian influence to make a difference in what the local public school is teaching your child. Notice that I did not say it is a “waste of time” to do those things. That type of Christian activism is okay but should not be top priority in the body of Christ.

If I had kept all the weak sheep trying to build a strong herd, it would have been fruitless in the end. My methods took many years of building. People don’t want to work with long-range goals because it takes too much sacrifice, too much time without seeing results. It takes some vision to understand that separating ourselves from a fallen world while we surrender all to Christ is necessary in order to build His Church. You can’t give it the Microsoft touch via the click of a computer mouse to give you a roll down menu showing the answers to life’s challenges. For example you can fire off e-mail to your Senators until Jesus comes and it will not do what time spent working toward getting Christians to take their children out of public schools and put them in Christian schools or school them at home. There are Kingdom of God principles that require planting and watering while God provides the growth. It takes perseverance; it takes time, usually a long time. It may take generations of people. Furthermore our efforts to influence politicians, for example, is like trying to repair the top stories of a tall building when in fact, it is the foundation that is crumbling.

Like my closed herd, it is time a faithful remnant of Christians separate ourselves to rebuild America’s Christian culture with God’s biblical principles, and in time He can use us (or our grandchildren) to disciple the world.