"Get in There! Yeah yeah!"

Then I heard another voice from heaven say:

“Come out of her, my people,

so that you will not share in her sins,

so that you will not receive any of her plagues;" (Revelation 18:4)

It seems rare that this verse is given serious consideration in modern Evangelical sermons and conversations.  Granted, throughout church history there has been a tug-o-war between the ideas of "letting your light shine" on one side and being "holy," "separate," "in the world, but not of it" on the other.  But it seems to me that if  either side is winning right now, it's the side for which being involved has become an unquestioned value: Of course we should vote; of course we should lobby for issues that matter to us; of course we should engage in "culture wars."  Many Christians can't see any reason why one wouldn't get involved in such things.

But if there is a Biblical context in which God commands his people, "come out of her," "get un-involved," then I ask, where is that reflected in Biblical preaching today?  I'm not saying the message to get involved is always wrong, but shouldn't it at least sometimes be to get uninvolved?  Shouldn't there be some discussion about discernment to differentiate between the two, rather than the assumption that getting involved is always the right thing to do?

The political and cultural battles of our day are full of disrespect, greed, coercion, and hatred, and most of what we hear from Christian leadership is, "Get in there!"  Perhaps some should rather listen to the voice from heaven saying, "Come out!"