Marriage--A Divine Primer

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”

The world has been transfixed by the travail of Tiger Woods. The scandal began with what appeared to have been a minor traffic accident. There had been reports in a broadsheet, mostly ignored by the mainstream media, that the most famous golfer of this generation was having an affair with an attractive young woman. Then, there were reports that the crash of his luxury SUV happened after a fight with his wife in the early morning hours. The reports multiplied and his multiple sexual partners began appearing with astounding regularity. Rumours concerning his wife’s response began to multiply daily. Finally, there were the reports that he had entered a sex rehab clinic in Mississippi while rumours swirled about multiple sexual dalliances by the golfer.

Throughout his career, Tiger Woods had been presented as a model of moral strength, decency and fidelity; suddenly, the carefully crafted image was unravelling. When he pleaded that his problems were a private matter, the public would have none of it. He had cultivated himself as a public personage, and he would now have to face the trials arising from his indiscretion in the hot glare of media spotlights.

On his daily blog, Al Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, draws several vital lessons from the saga of Tiger Woods. First, Doctor Mohler observes that Acts done in private can and will have public consequences. Second, he states that The public still believes that adultery is a big deal. Finally, he notes that A fall from public favour can happen in an instant. Most individuals will hear such a list and conclude that these facts are obvious. Though they are obvious, they are nevertheless ignored by many individuals—even individuals who are professed followers of the Risen Son of God.

At the epicentre of our secular cultural media is a writer named Jenny Block, who argued on Newsweek’s website it was not surprising to learn of Tiger’s multiple affairs because his “entire life is based on winning; on having, doing, and being more ... why on earth would anyone think ‘settling down’ was even in his vocabulary?”

Block declared without reservation that she had cheated on her husband with another woman, and she was the norm, not the exception. Now she and her husband were in one of those fabulously open marriages with no judgmental God and no real vows or commitments. “Monogamy just isn’t always realistic. There’s nothing wrong with admitting that. It simply doesn’t work for some. And just as people choose different religions, eating habits, and places to call home, I believe we should be able to choose different ways to live out our relationships.”

This kind of “evangelism” doesn’t cause the cultural elite to explode at the national dinner table. However, it causes me to ask how does any culture build strong families and strong children if such a chaotic and abnormal view dominates? How can any culture survive long if the family is destroyed and if fidelity between husband and wife is not fostered? Brit Hume was vilified because he urged Tiger Woods to look to the Christian Faith in the midst of his troubles. If this were less of a morally upside-down world, it would be Jenny Block who would be sitting in Brit Hume’s corner, taking heat because she was promoting what is patently wrong.

Tragically, we live in a world that rejects the divine intent because it is confused about morality. Modern societies operate on the basis of emotion rather than reason; and this is evident even in the issues surround marriage in this day. What is worse, the churches—the very entities that should be moral arbiters, and certainly should act as the conscience of society—are silenced because of their compromise. Contemporary Canadian society desperately needs to return to a solid moral foundation, but that will not happen until the churches of our nation reclaim the moral certainty that comes from knowledge of the will of God, especially for the family.