Thoughts from the Sermon on the Mount …
There is a lot of talk about marriage in the church. It is a constant subject in pulpits, books, blogs, and social media. Everyone has an opinion about marriage — from philosophers, to musicians, to politicians, to movie stars.
Through all of this talk, we are bombarded with several false myths:
- “Marriage exists to make you happy”
- “Everyone has the right to marry whomever they want“
- “Love is all you need”
- “You should leave when your partner no longer makes you happy”
- “Half of all marriages end in divorce” (this myth is refuted here)
Unfortunately, the church is often guilty of making things worse. We thunder at the evils of this world, whether it be a new celebrity scandal or the latest political attack from homosexual activists. We are quick to attack the broken world, yet we ignore the broken people that we pass by every day.
In the church, we are glad to lift up a happy, wholesome marriage, but we are too quick to shove them aside when problems arise. When a marriage starts to disintegrate into separation and divorce, we tend to fall to one of the two extremes: we either gloss over the issue, ignoring real problems, or we pronounce judgement on the victims, isolating them when they need us the most.
What does Jesus say about marriage? What does He say about divorce? How can we apply His commands in our broken world today?
Sapphire Sky 