Spiritual Separation in the World

To speak of "Separation" sounds like something from Fundamentalism, doesn't it?  But is there a Scriptural "separation" from the world, and what is it?

Let us examine the parable of the wheat and the tares:

Matthew 13:24-30  Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." ' "

From this parable we draw certain conclusions.  (And, by the way, we don't want to abuse the parable to draw conclusions out of the range of our Lord's intention in giving it.)

It is clear that the intention of the parable is to show that good and evil grow simultaneously and in mixed proximity with one another in the world.  Good produces a crop, and bad produces a crop.  It's also clear that this is not a parable about evangelism.  There is no converting of tares into wheat, or vice versa.  The emphasis is on the distinction between the wheat and the tares.  This is an agelong distinction, as the two parallel crops grow to their final fruitage.

The explanation of the parable is like this:

Matthew 13:36-43  Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field." He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

There is a clear doctrine of "separation" in this parable.  This must be kept in mind when perusing other parables, such as the parable of the leaven, which teach the secret (but thorough) permeation of the world with the leaven of God's Kingdom.  There is a conquering by the good seed, but there is a constant mixture in the world with the bad seed, which will only be removed at Judgment Day.

Now, no one would say that we should abuse this parable to teach such an isolation of the good from the evil that no evangelism is possible, or that Christians leave the world.  The parable isn't about these things.  But, it is about the present phase of the Kingdom of God, as being a field containing a mixed crop until the end -- crops which don't mix their natures or their fruit, until their ongoing separation is made final in the Great Separation on the Day of Judgment.

Then will the Sons of the Kingdom shine forth as the sun!