ChosenRebel's Blog

I was coming back from an early morning breakfast appointment with a local Christian leader. Accelerating into traffic, I looked up and saw a billboard with 6 words, 2 sentences, 1 sign of an imploding culture in two foot high letters.

Life is Short. Get a Divorce.

Really? This is the best or first solution to marital disharmony? You are unhappy, get a divorce. I couldn’t get my phone out and take a picture but the sight was unforgettable. A group of lawyers were plying their trade and in this case, playing upon the misery of marital disintegration to pay their bills.

• Some would say that they are offering a valuable service.
• Some would say that they were doing their part to alleviate unhappiness.
• Some would say that they were protecting woman (and increasingly, men) from being abused by their spouses.
• Some would say that they were offering a way for children to be protected from the heartaches of their parents troubles.
• Some would say, “there is nothing wrong with correcting a relational mistake.”

But Jesus and the Scriptures have a more valuable word on the issues.

Malachi 2:16

“For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the Lord of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

Matthew 19:3-10

³ Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” ⁴ And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” ⁷ They *said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” ⁸ He *said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. ⁹ And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” ¹⁰ The disciples *said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” 

Yes, this sounds quaint and perhaps even judgmental in our post-Christian culture. Nevertheless, it is the truth and to go against it is the downgrade of society. So, . . .

• I would say, this is a sign of decay and rot in our nation.
• I would say, there will be hell to pay for such a dismissive attitude toward marriage.
• I would say, Christians need to wake up and start providing REAL help to couples facing marital disharmony.
• I would say, Churches need to stand against the tidal wave of the culture.
• I would say, we need to give real effort and prayer to the reestablishment of the sanctity, and importance of fighting for our marriages which are a primary God-designed strategy for our witness in the world (see Ephesians 5:21-33).

Thought:

Was the rapid flip of our society from majority AGAINST same-sex marriage to majority FOR same-sex marriage God’s warning shot across the bow of the culture and the church? Is persecution of the Church just around the corner because she will not bow to the cultural zeitgeist of the moment? Has God given us over as a nation in a Romans 1:18-32 fashion? Is judgment just around the corner? Could it come as swiftly has the flip from majority AGAINST to majority FOR same-sex marriage?

Be faithful Church.

Christ calls us to die for the Truth, but promises life even if we do. But there is no good thing promised to us if we do not take up our cross and follow Him.