I cannot begin to tell you just how many times I have remarked that I would love to live in a secluded cabin in the woods, isolated from the demands and interactions society and life seem to impose on me.  …well, isolated but with hot and cold running water, electricity, and internet.

However, a verse I read in Proverbs the other day challenged my desire for solitude:  “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment” (Proverbs 18:1).  As much as I would often like to avoid interactions with others, a lifestyle of doing so does not necessarily foster sound judgment.

 That is not to say that there are not times we should get away by ourselves for rest and to nurture our relationship with God—Jesus, the Son of God, demonstrated that essential aspect of a relationship with the Father by His life on earth.  “And He said to them, ‘Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while’ (Mark 6:31); and, “Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitudes away.  And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray” (Mark 6:45, 46).

I am beginning to recognize that there are ways of isolating myself, setting myself up as a recluse, without withdrawing from society to an isolated place.  Proverbs 18:2 hints at another way we can isolate ourselves:  “A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart.” 

As much as some dispute the authenticity or accuracy of the Bible, there is an indisputable truth regarding its authority, truth concerning who God is, who we are as God’s creation, as well as the relationship we are able to enjoy with God through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.  However, some do not desire understanding; rather, their ultimate authority lies in the personal knowledge and understanding their own hearts afford them—thus they isolate themselves with their individual perspectives. 

And lest anyone thinks this is a Christian vs. non-Christian issue, pride, particularly arrogant pride, is a catalyst in the lives of many to set themselves apart from others.  “A proud and haughty man—‘Scoffer’ is his name; he acts with arrogant pride” (Proverbs 21:24).  Paul wrote this to Timothy, “If anyone…does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth…” (1 Timothy 6:3-5).

Pride is a rather insidious sin, difficult to recognize unless we are open to the Holy Spirit and the light He shines into the darkest corners of our hearts, illuminating sinful attitudes that tend to creep in unnoticed and lurk there—and judgmental or critical spirits often cloak a prideful spirit.

Fear, particularly fear of rejection, often isolates people.  Yet we have the assurance to pray as King David, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1) – because “in this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins….there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.  But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (1 John 4:10, 18).

Harboring sin in our hearts or practicing sin in our lives can also isolate us “—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ….If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:3, 6-7).

From another perspective, poverty can isolate us; “Wealth makes many friends, but the poor is separated from his friend” and, “All the brothers of the poor hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him!  He may pursue them with words, yet they abandon him” (Proverbs 19:4, 7).  This is a striking commentary identifying our fallen human nature, which is drawn to the strong, the beautiful, the powerful—respecting the wealthy while quietly assessing the poor amongst us with a critical eye and disassociating with those in poverty, the weak and the broken.  James addresses this problem in his epistle, “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.  For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and say to the poor man, ‘You stand there,’ or, ‘Sit here at my footstool,’ have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?  Listen, my beloved brethren:  Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” (James 2:1-5).  This particular situation may not play out in our churches (though if our churches are fulfilling the ministry of Christ, there is a very good chance that it will), but very often this is the attitude of our hearts.

Unforgiveness causes alienation and isolation—just as the devil, the one who seeks to steal, kill, and destroy, targets lives and relationships.  Rather than let any of the subtleties of the enemy or inclinations of our flesh cause us to isolate ourselves from the body of Christ, “let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24, 25).