What does it mean for someone to be set apart? It means that in some way they become divided from others. Is this a good thing? The answer to that would depend on the reason for them being set apart. If they are set apart from society by the courts, discovering that their new home is going to be a state penitentiary, then we know that the reason for this is not exactly one to celebrate. People can be set apart for reasons that bring shame; or this can also be done so that they are honored for their praiseworthy contributions.
When I was a young boy my favorite TV series was Rin Tin Tin. There was something a little different about this show. The thing that made it different would have never happened in real life. A young boy Rusty, who I believe was an orphan of about ten years of age, and his dog Rin Tin Tin, had actually become part of a US cavalry troop. Now for my favorite episode. It began with all of the soldiers of B Company starting out to pay a visit to a band of friendly Indians they knew. While there, an old Indian chief decided to tell Rusty about the legend of the White Buffalo. According to the legend, appearances of him were extremely rare. When the chief was asked by Rusty if he had ever seen this buffalo, he replied that when he was a very young boy he believed that he saw him, and that the vision was followed up by a miraculous occurrence. It then so happened that not long after talking with the old warrior, Rusty accidentally wandered into the path of a herd of charging buffalos. He was at a loss for what to do. He began running but stumbled and fell. In great fear he could only cover up his head and remain on the ground. Then the astonishment. The boy realized that he could no longer hear the horrifying sound of pounding hooves drawing ever more near. He lifted his head to look. A distance away every buffalo stood perfectly still. Rusty was amazed. Then he noticed that upon a ridge not too far off from where he lay there stood the White Buffalo. I would say, and I believe that all would agree, that this was a buffalo who in more than one way stood set apart from all the rest. Every once in a blue moon do I think back to that TV series. When I do the only episode that I am able to recall is the legend of the White Buffalo. And as crazy as it may sound, I can still remember the song and its lyrics that was played at the end.
Every Christian across our globe has One who stands in defense of them, even like the White Buffalo with the boy Rusty. His name is Jesus. And when He appears we know that every demon is halted in their tracks. For it is Him and Him alone who has been set apart from every created thing - and this by the Father and God of us all. But is Jesus the only One who has been set apart? I would think not. Many are the verses in the bible that portray every believer as becoming consecrated by Him who lives forever, the One who heaven itself cannot contain. And since the Head of the body (Christ himself) has become the first to be perfected by the Father, then all of the remaining members of that body must follow where He leads, remembering that God has divided the children of light from the children of darkness in the world in which we live. However, the one thing that we often forget is that if we are His children, then we have also been enlisted as His soldiers. Every child of the Most High is not only His offspring but a soldier of a kingdom yet unseen, though seen through eyes of faith. And because of this we do not grow weary, though tested often. It is why Paul writes these words to Timothy: “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” Here we are again reminded that we have become a people set apart from this world - and that by God.
“No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life… .” Strong words by the great apostle of the Faith - and how true. The reason so many suffer defeat is because they look to embrace two kingdoms which are in direct opposition to one another - a recipe for misery. The reason being that they will fail to receive from either one the joy and the pleasures that they seek. Divided affections could never make for success. It is why Jesus himself once told us to be hot or to be cold. The words that He had for the lukewarm would surely not put a smile on their faces. For the believer, full commitment is the key - to have both feet planted firm and deep in one kingdom. It is the only way to discover all of the precious jewels that have been hidden in the Son. And there is yet another way to see it. When He hung in untold agony while the penalty of all men’s sins were being placed upon Him, then His commitment to us couldn’t have been more full. Should He then be repaid with nothing more than our unsavory offerings?
To be separated from what is of this ever dying and temporal world - and by God himself - should cause the elect to treasure the ground on which they stand more than all things. Why then reach out for what is vanishing more and more each day? Could it be that our belief in the upward call is too wavering of a belief? This will divide the affections of the Christian quicker than anything else. Then the only answer is to give more time to spiritually based matters - matters such as burying one’s self in the scriptures; gathering together with other believers more often; or perhaps ministry involvement. But nothing will do it like getting alone with the Master each and every day - to speak our whole mind, to praise Him for who He is, to present our petitions, to simply think on Him. Such communion will never fail to result in both quality and quantity time, spent with the Lover of our souls. In such meetings we will catch hold of His Spirit with every encounter. Some say, “I’ve tried it; it’s not for me.” Others, “I don’t have the patience for that.” But to have an intimate time of communion, daily with our heavenly Father is not only for you but for every soul born of Him. And patience will develop. The apostle Paul once told us how he fought not as one who beats at the air but he disciplined himself while bringing his person into subjection; and if by this success doesn’t come as quick as we’d wish for it to, then we must stay with it until it arrives, which it will. We have learned to wait on some things of far lesser importance, until finally we saw the light at the end of the tunnel - and these often being things that fade away. How much more should we persevere in the matters that carry with them an eternal weight of glory?
Often have I thought of Paul’s words: “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” It’s a passage that has never failed to stir me. But once I was a soldier of another army. From 1965 to 1967 I served in the U.S. Army. I had no choice. In those days, if you received the letter that began with “Greetings” then you automatically knew what followed. It was time to pack your bags. If you were nineteen, healthy, and had no college deferment, you would soon belong to Uncle Sam. This was all due to the fact that the Viet Nam conflict had begun raging. If I were to be honest, I’d have to admit that Uncle Sam never became numbered among my favorite uncles. I think it’s safe to say that almost all who were drafted back then felt the same. It wasn’t an easy thing to be taken away from your safe surroundings and from the people you loved, so that you can travel far from home to be trained for war - and all this before your twentieth birthday. But on another note I must say that my experience in the military served to my advantage when some years later I was called not to an earthly but a heavenly army. Though they were different, there were more than a few similarities that they shared. The first thing that I became aware of as a newly inducted soldier of an army of this world was that my life would now become one of discipline. If from this I strayed there would be consequences. Then it wasn’t very long after that I began to realize that I did not belong to myself any longer. I was now the property of the U.S. Government. To add, it wouldn’t be me that would choose my line of work - where I would be placed as a working member among the body of men who would make up our unit. This decision came from the higher-ups. Does it all sound familiar? And so you see, whether it be an army of the earth, or one from the world above, surely there would be things found common among them.
The comparisons could go on but I would like to zero in on only one more. And this will bring us back to the place where I began. Just like the heavenly army of God has been set apart from this world, and that by His hand, so it is with those who become soldiers of the earth. What are they set apart from? From society about them. As I already said, we no longer belonged to the world in which we lived, but we belonged solely to our government. Yet many believers are offended by the idea of being separated from the rest of the world. They may view the matter as being so heavenly minded that we’re no earthly good; or they can’t help but connect the thought of it all to a self-righteous spirit. Let’s quickly eliminate the first misconception. There is no such thing as being so heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good. The more heavenly minded you are, the more earthly good you will be. That is, if we are truly heavenly minded; now if we are talking about walking around with our head in the clouds, that would be something different. The reverse also holds true. The less heavenly minded we are, the less earthly good. Then there is the matter of a self-righteous spirit because we choose to live set apart. No doubt there are believers who are more in touch with their own righteousness than with the righteousness of Christ. However, that doesn’t come from our walk being apart from the world and its ways. It comes simply from having our mind more on what we have become in the eyes of the Father, than on who the Son has forever been in His eyes. Maturing in Him will correct this.
To live with some distance between our place in Him, and our place in this world, is of the utmost importance. And one thing should be made clear. The separation that the scriptures speak of is far more spiritual in nature than physical. Though at times the physical may be called for. For this we may need discernment, which God will grant if we truly desire it and pray to that end. However, for the most part, we are not called to live our lives physically set apart from the world. Common sense will tell us this. It is why Paul wrote to the Corinthians that they would need to go out of the world to never have to mingle with sinners. But what we should be grateful for, and even revel in, is the fact that we have been set apart from this dark world in which we presently find ourselves, not in the body of our flesh but in our spirit man. And in this we taste a little bit of heaven on earth.
I said earlier that my experience in the military helped me when one day I surrendered my life to the Triune God. How so? In a few ways. As I already told, in the army I was taught and shown the disciplined life. Not only this, but something of that life-style carried over into civilian life with me. And how we all know that discipline needs to be applied daily in the walk and in the warfare that we are called to in Christ. Secondly, when upon coming to Christ I learned that I would no longer live for or belong to myself, I was not bowled over by it. I’d already experienced this as a member of the Seventh Army, Fifth Battalion, Seventy-third Artillery. And as far as the Lord showing me where my place would be in Him - what I would be trained for, and this by the Spirit, myself having no say in the matter, then this too I could easily accept. Been there, done that. Never cared for the expression but suddenly it seems to fit so well.
What it all comes down to is this. I am no less a soldier of God on high than I am a son of that same God. In fact, I would say that the two cannot be separated - not while there is yet an enemy to be engaged and battles to be fought. And most certainly this holds true for all who are born from above. The average believer is far more likely to be minded of the fact that they are a child of God, than to think of themselves as one set apart for war by Him. But what can be more honorable than to fight for the Father’s cause? Or what can be more noble than to lay down our lives for those He brings to us? And what greater privilege can there be than for one to be able to choose the fully devoted life of a soldier? Gloriously is he separated from all of the throngs of humanity, his life hidden in his God; and great is his pleasure in the sanctuary given him, its strong and high tower risen into the heavens. Surely the apostle Paul saw this and lived it. And no doubt it is why he could write about it as he did when he penned these words: “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”
What is a white buffalo? He is one who comes between the dark stampeding herds of demons and those who they seek to destroy. To him it has been given power to demolish strongholds, world forces and wickedness in high places. It is for him to shatter thrones and dominions, for in battle the Lord is ever at his right hand, and he himself is a weapon hidden in the right hand of his God. Who is this one? He is the believer. And who is his Head? He is the Lord. Hear the Lord’s roar? He leads the charge.
- J. Pecoraro
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