“Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment” (Proverbs 18:1).
I don’t know about you, but I find this passage sobering. Isolating one’s self is acting selfishly. Further, such isolation—dare I say, “independence”?—is contrary to sound judgment.
Those are strong ideas, yet they make perfect sense when you recognize that we are the Body of Christ. He doesn’t call us to be the “severed little finger of Christ,” nor the “mouth-on-its-own of Christ.” No, we are to be the Body of Christ. Being a body means we are all to be joined together with the other parts. No cutting ourselves off. No isolationism, which would go against sound judgment. Why? Because we each—you, me, every one of us—need the rest of the Body to be complete and whole.
I know there are some who believe they can make it just fine without being in true give-and-take, iron-sharpening-iron community, but they’re wrong. Such an idea “breaks out against all sound judgment.” It simply won’t—can’t!—work.
There is wisdom, strength, compassion, knowledge, hope, understanding, grace, experience, love, and more, in the rest of the members of the Body of Christ. Without allowing such things into our lives, we’ll be incomplete.
Don’t isolate yourself. It goes against sound judgment.
To Make You Think 
Glad I’m connected to you through our head, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Tom, your blogs are so insightful. No Isolationism sent me reeling. However, my thoughts keep gravitating to the idea that your blog is a strong argument against homeschooling. I’m sure that wasn’t your intent or direction you were headed. I have vacillated for years on that subject (sorry to digress), but your words apply and make sense. Our world is sinful, no matter where you go. Isolating your kids makes them less able to relate to others … perhaps making them less adept at witnessing to them. Jesus was not isolationist. As a matter of fact, he mingled with the worst of the worst. And we are all the better for His non-isolationism. Thanks; I just had to work that out.
Joan, thanks for the comment. Actually, I had adults in mind when I wrote this particular post. Honestly, I think kids are a different matter. As parents, we have a responsibility to keep them somewhat isolated, at least until they reach a point where they are strong enough to think and reason from a biblical perspective on their own. Although we never homeschooled our kids, they did attend a very small Christian school. Allowing them the opportunity to grow in their faith without worldly influences has paid off. Each of them has now been in a secular college environment, and other life situations, and they have each handled everything that was thrown at them, with their faith solidly intact.