Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Marriage in the church

This subject is far too huge to cover in this blog. However, I am want to share my concern for how the church handles the subject of marriage. Most churches give little or no attention to providing instructions and resources to help couples maintain happy and successful marriages. Limit time and resources are usually given to preparing those wanting to get married for the realities of living together as husbands and wives. Thankfully this is changing in many churches, but for most it is common to not do much of anything to promote godly marriages.

Shame on us! It is no wonder that marriages in the church are in trouble. Divorce amongst professing Christians is commonplace and widely accepted. The stigma of divorce has been removed. No we are chipping away at the very foundation and meaning of what marriage is. Many churches no longer restrict marriage to that of a man and a woman. Is it any wonder?

Pastors have failed the church! We are the ones who determine the direction of our ministries and the contexts of our messages. We are the ones who fail to put marriage high on the list of our priorites. We are the ones who must change our priorities for the church. No church can be effective in her ministries and survive the chaotic times we live in without a foundation of solid and godly marriages.

The need is overwhelming because we have been negligent in our duty to help one another live in godly marriages and homes. There are Christian counselors and ministries everywhere willing to help broken marriages and I am glad they are. But, they could not exist if the church were to do her job of taking care of Christians who marry. It takes great effort and determination to stay married and we had better wake up to the task before it is too late.