2 Corinthians 6:14 "Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there..."

Comment:

You requested simply "Corinthians 6:14," but there are two letters to the Corinthians in the Bible. I'm going to guess that you meant 2 Corinthians 6:14, which reads as follows:   "Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship is there between light and darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14).   It is widely believed that this passage was not written by Paul at all, but rather was inserted later by another hand. Certainly the letter flows easily from 6:13 to 7:2, so 6:14-18 and 7:1 are usually set apart in Bibles, indicating that there is question of their authorship or placement.   The challenge addressed here was a common and difficult one in the early church, when religious affiliation could be literally a matter of life and death. It is still challenging today, of course, when one member of a family or marriage is following a spiritual path while another is not. A similar challenge faced Jews returning from exile in Babylon. Ezra, among others, wanted to forbid all marriages between Jews and those of other faiths, and even to dissolve any marriages that may have occurred among Jews left behind in the exile, who had intermarried with other tribes in the region. It was in response to Ezra's ultra-conservative stance that the Book of Ruth was written, reminding Jews that King David himself had a grandmother who was a non-Jewish Moabite.   Certainly whoever wrote this is extremely dualistic in his views—everything is seen in terms of good and bad, black and white. Jesus would be the first to point out that life is not like that. We are not here to judge the world, or to hide from it, but to transform it. We are here to be the Christ in expression, after the example of Jesus Christ. And Jesus was constantly criticized for mingling with unacceptable people. But we cannot transform the world if we are afraid to engage with it. We cannot compromise our spiritual Truth, certainly. But we don't hold an exclusive lock on Truth. No one does. What's important is to find, affirm and join with spiritual awareness in order to accomplish the great work of creating the kingdom of heaven by transforming fear-based choices into creative expressions of the Christ. There are many people on this planet who are not willing to accept, or conform to, any specific religious path, but who are nonetheless centered in spiritual awareness and actively extending divine Love in their lives and relationships. To avoid them because they don't march in lockstep with us would be the height of foolishness. To work with them, holding firm to our universal principles and finding both challenge and enjoyment in discussing our differences, is to be about the work of creating the kingdom.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed