I'm back with yet another tough question from my Web Writing teacher: "Should Christians divorce their spouses? Why or why not? What does the Bible say about this?"
Wow. This is definitely a touchy subject. Let's start with some statistics from the Barna Group (www.barna.org), shall we?
1. Four out of Five adults have been married at least once.
The break-down:
Christians: 84 percent get married
Non-Christians: 74 percent get married
Agnostics and Aethists: 65 percent get married.
2. Out of those who get married, 33 percent get divorced at least once.
"Born again Christians who are not evangelical were indistinguishable from the national average on the matter of divorce: 33% have been married and divorced. " (http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/15-familykids/42-new-marriage-and-divorce-statistics-released)
Isn't that a little disconcerting? The next generation is being groomed to think that "sure, marriage sounds great, but it probably won't last. So what's the point?"
Television is also teaching sex before marriage because, "It feels good." How can we expect to teach a new generation of both Christians and Non-Christians to respect marriage and relationships if everything they see around them consists of messy relationships and sex?
Back to the point. Do I personally think Christians should divorce? No. The Bible has some very specific things to say about marriage and divorce.
Matthew 5, Matthew 19, Mark 10, Luke 16, and 1 Corinthians 7 all have the same thing to say.
"Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery." (Luke 16:18).
1 Corinthians 7 says that if a man or woman's spouse dies, they may marry without fear as long as it is in the Lord.
Matthew 19:6 says, "so they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."
Deuteronomy 24:1 says that if a man marries and finds that his spouse has cheated or has been indecent, he may divorce her.
Okay, so in today's world, how does this differ? People cheat...right?
Here are my thoughts. When you marry someone, you are vowing to stay true to them until death do you part. That may seem like an antiquated thought, but I believe it.
Before you run into marriage, you need to be sure that you know the character of the one you are marrying. Are they the type to stay true to you? Will they work to keep the relationship together, no matter what the costs?
I do believe that there are instances when a person should be allowed to divorce. For example: If a woman or man is being abused by their spouse, that is not okay.
If a spouse has cheated, the couple should try to work through it, but if the person who cheated does not change their ways, I believe that a person should be allowed to divorce.
What's your take?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Infidelity without repentance may be a reason to divorce. Certainly abuse would qualify—a person should not jeopardize her/his safety/health. It's a difficult subject, and many people enter marriage thinking that, if it doesn't work out, no problem. I'll just get divorced and move on. But can we take that view as Christians?
ReplyDeleteMike