Spiritual Snob

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The Bible admonishes us as believers not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. This is true wherever relationships can be formed, whether in business, friendships, social groups, romantic relationships -- whatever. My question is this: At what point do we cross that line in between not being unequally yoked and being Spiritual Snobs? Admittedly, I believe that I suffer from this at times; I’ve been self-diagnosed. I’m such a thinker and there seem to be so many things to consider. I’m in the world but not of the world. At this point I’m already separated. Not that this is a bad thing. On quite the contrary, it’s exactly what being holy is all about -- being called out, set apart for God’s use and ultimately, His glory. But we’re still to go into all the world and preach the gospel of Jesus. So we do have a responsibility to interact with and even gain the trust of non-believers. The basis of this trust has to come from some type of relationship, no matter how seemingly small. Having attained any level of spiritual maturity and trying to be a witness to someone who isn’t even born again, well, the differences there are blaring. It’s hard not to think of it in a condescending manner; having to “come down” to where they are. Now if the context of the relationship stays at that level, there’s not much to worry about. You’ll always be on guard to protect your witness.

But what about on a different playing field, one where everyone is a believer? Just like you would protect the effectiveness of your witness, shouldn’t you protect the level of spiritual maturity you’ve grown into? Is it possible to be unequally yoked with a believer? One of the main reasons for Christians not to join themselves with nonbelievers is because the door to compromise would be left wide open. Can not the same phenomenon be said true amongst believers? If a Pastor or Bishop had an inner circle comprised of saved, spirit-filled “lay members”, would his witness not suffer? Would not his growth be stunted? Could not even he (or she) be led to compromise? It’s easier to see in a Pastor to Lay Member comparison. But you know where you are in your walk and relationship with God. You know how far you’ve come and the level of maturity you’ve attained. As you continue to live and meet new people, other Christians, who are drawn to you and want to become close to you, how do you determine if relationship would be an “equal yoking”? Moreover, if you feel that it wouldn’t be, how do you relay that without coming across as a Spiritual Snob? Especially when so many other things seem to fall into place and spirituality seems to be the only hindrance to furthering a relationship of any kind?