Extreme Home Makeover: Singles Edition Series

EXTREME HOME MAKEOVER: SINGLES EDITION

Scott Bayles, pastor

Blooming Grove Christian Church: 5/20/2012

Several years ago I was invited to speak at a weekend seminar about marriage and the family. There were several other speakers there, each discussing a different aspect of the family. I spoke about the role of the husband, while others spoke on the role of the wife, the role of parents, the role of children, etc. I made sure to invite everyone from my home church to attend the event, but out the nearly 100 adults from our church, only one person came to the seminar—Patty. She was single lady in her early forties and an enthusiastic follower of Jesus. After the first couple of speakers were finished, we broke for lunch, however, and Patty came up to me and said, “I think I’m going to head home.” When I asked her why, she said, “There just isn’t anything for me here.”

That stuck with me.

Sunday after Sunday—especially during a series like this on the home—single Christians often walk out the doors feeling the same way. Since most adults in the church are married, it’s easy for Christian singles to be left out and feel left out.

That’s unfortunate because singles make up a large section of society. In fact some 37% of adults over 18 are single. They have either never married or are single again because of a divorce or death. In fact, all of us spend a significant part of our life single—typically the first 25 years or so before we marry and some of us will spend the last 10-15 years single after our spouse dies. Some people spend their entire life or almost their entire life single.

Who knows? You may end up like Jake and Jessie. Jake was 92, and Jessie was 89 when they found each other and decided to get married. They were so excited.

One day they were strolling along discussing their wedding plans, and on the way, they passed a drug store. Jake said, “Let’s go in here,” and Jessie followed. He walked to the rear of the store found a pharmacist. Then Jake said, “We’re about to get married. Do you sell heart medication?”

The pharmacist said, “Of course we do.”

“How about medicine for circulation?”

“All kinds.”

“Medicine for rheumatism, scoliosis?”

“Sure.”

“Medicine for memory problems, arthritis, jaundice?”

“Yes, a large variety.”

“What about vitamins, sleeping pills, Geritol—any of that?”

“Absolutely.”

“You sell wheel chairs, walkers, and those scooter chairs?”

“Yep, we sure do,” said the pharmacist.

“That settles it then. We’d like to register for our wedding gifts here.”

Because singleness is such a large part of life, God does have something to say about it. In fact, He says that whether the season of singleness lasts for a few years or for your entire life, you need to make the most of it. Let me share our anchor verse with you again. The Bible says, “Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted” (Psalm 127:1 NLT). This verse is true whether you’re married, single, married again, or single again.

Has everyone here seen the show Extreme Makeover Home Edition? Its eight year run actually came to an end just a couple of months ago, but for a long time it was one of the best shows on TV. Ty Pennington and his design team along with dozens, even hundreds, of volunteers will remodel a house that is just inadequate for the family living there. Sometimes the house is just too small for the size of the family, sometimes the house is in need of some major repairs, and sometimes the house is so dilapidated or termite ridden that they just tear the whole thing down to the foundation and build something entirely new.

If you are single or single again, that’s where you are right now. As a single Christian, you are in the best position possible to set up spiritual walls that will serve as framework for your life and possibly your family in future. If you get it right now, you won’t have to do as much remodeling later on.

In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul devotes an entire chapter to discussing romantic relationships. He addresses Christians who are married to Christians, Christians married to non-Christians, and three categories of single Christians—that is, Christians who have never been married, Christians who are widowed, and Christians who are divorced. Throughout the chapter, Paul gives three important words of advice to these singles.

• ESTABLISH PRIORITIES

First, Paul encourages Christian singles to establish priorities.

Here’s what Paul has to say about that: “I want you to live as free of complications as possible. When you’re unmarried, you’re free to concentrate on simply pleasing the Master. Marriage involves you in all the nuts and bolts of domestic life and in wanting to please your spouse, leading to so many more demands on your attention. The time and energy that married people spend on caring for and nurturing each other, the unmarried can spend in becoming whole and holy instruments of God.” (1 Corinthians 7:32-34 MSG).