Insulation not Isolation

Friends may know I am currently extending my home. A modest room is being added to the rear, allowing me to transform my current parlour into a downstairs study. The work on the project is somewhat sporadic, but I follow it with interest. The stage has been reached whereby insulation is being added between the internal breeze block and the external stonework. This should make the room the warmest in the house, potentially, for no other part of my Victorian home enjoys this extra layer.

Insulation keeps in the warm air rather than letting it escape. This makes heated rooms warmer for longer. Bud Steadman, in an online article entitled Biblical Separation: Isolation or Insulation writes

Perhaps an illustration will help us understand that our Lord is teaching insulation, not isolation. Electricity is a wonderfully protective energy source that has been designed by God for our good. When a generator produces electricity, the current is sent from the generator to the object of the power’s application through an insulated wire. If the wire loses its insulation, the power is shorted out and lost, rendering the object of the energy without benefit. If the insulation is maintained, the application of the power is dynamic.

Jesus Christ has given us spiritual power for ministry, but that power flows through us effectively and efficiently only as we are insulated from the world and its draining influence. The object of Christ’s power is ministry to a lost and dying world, that men might be saved and discipled. A biblical practice of separation is a major part of that insulation.

May we insulate ourselves against the cold, dead hand of worldly values and thinking, without isolating from its lonely, helpless people. My new room I hope will prove a blessing to many people; if I upped sticks and moved to the top of a mountain, it would bless no-one at all. Let us separate from worldiness, insulating our spirits from its withering grip, while not isolating ourselves into protective bubbles and holy huddles.