Don’t Fall off the Bridge 10: Don’t Live a Double Life

One of the things that Paul told the Corinthians was that you need to come out from among the people and be separate (2 Cor. 6.17-18). Samson did not do this, he liked living with worldly people, and his life story is a great lesson for every one of us.

Samson had a really religious part to his life. He really loved the Lord, he was devoted to the Lord – he never cut his hair, he kept his vows, but then on the other side he was yoked to the world. There are Christians today who look separated but are living in the worst kinds of sin. Secret boyfriends, secret girlfriends, secret lives – separated in some ways, entangled in others. This kind of double life will destroy you.

You see as a Christian (and especially as a Christian leader, like an elder or deacon or pastor) you cannot live like the rest of the world. You are unique and are supposed to live that way. You are not supposed to be getting drunk, having sex outside of marriage, watching porn, living a double life. Now everyone who saw Samson and his magnificent mane thought – this man must really love God – but on the other hand, he was having sex outside of marriage, he was touching dead things and messing around. He wanted an unbeliever wife (Judges 14.2-3) – he was an anointed man who both wanted to live for God and play around with the pleasures of the world.

I know pastors who have been sleeping with people in their churches, Bible College lecturers sleeping with their students, I know evangelists who have girls in every town they go to preach in. It is a double life, a double personality. There are also people in the churches with double personalities – on Sunday morning they are singing praising to God, then leave church and have pre-marital sex. They have a magnificent mane in church, but as soon as they are home or in the office, they have a totally different life.

Some of you reading this post are this person. You are Samson, you are different with your Christian friends than with your non-Christian friends. You are playing games and you are about to fall off a bridge and it will not be pleasant. God will still love you, I will still love you, but you are about to hurt yourself and you should sort it out. Some of you hear life changing messages over and over and your closest friends, your lovers are all unbelievers. This is wrong.

Young people, if your main school friends are athiests, are people who hate Jesus, you have a huge problem. Samson was just like you – he wore the long hair, like wearing a giant cross, but he still slept with unbelievers. Separated but worldly. His life ended with him bald and blind. Everyone was shocked when they heard he lost his hair – we thought he was so godly, but he wasn’t.

I don’t know how a believer could ever consider marrying an unbeliever. How you could look separated but live so far from Jesus. It’s a danger. Don’t do it.

Selah.