This week we continue our series called Chronos. A term which means time. We have decided to study the scriptures this year in the order they were published. It gives us a very unique insight into the early church and the struggles of a growing movement. This review of history is important because The Center’s leadership believes we are on the cuspid of a great awakening in America. An awakening that will challenge the status quo of the current Christian industrial complex. An institution more concerned with Attendance, Buildings and Cash than the Gospel, Grace and Growth of the kingdom.
This week we also continue in the book of the first Corinthians. It’s another book written by Paul around 25 years after Jesus' earthly ministry. Corinth is the original sin city. It was a transitional city and as such there was a lot of anonymity. As a Coastal town people were always coming and going. Some for vacation, most for business. The community was know for their worship of the goddess of sex. They had one of the largest temples devoted to her and the idea of fertility. You can see why when you called somebody a corinthian back then, you were saying they were living without morality. After his 1 ½ years planting the church, Paul left behind Apollos who was an amazing preacher/teacher and yet, we can see from this book the people still had questions. The immorality of the culture was so rampant that Paul had to address everything from why church potlucks should not turn into drunken frat parties and worship of the one true God should not look like a kids first birthday party at a chuck e cheese restaurant.
Last Sunday, we dove head first into the book. Last week Paul encouraged us to remember we always represent Jesus in all our affairs. We must be ever cognizant of our witness and its reflection on Jesus Christ.
Until this point, Paul has been addressing some issues he felt needed to be corrected. Now, he jumps into some questions the new tribe in Corinth were asking. This entire chapter is about Christian marriage and singleness. Before we jump into this week’s issue, let me tell you a story.
For the last 37 years, I have been married to my college sweetheart. We were 22 years old when we were married. We were sure love was all we needed. We had no idea the challenges in front of us. We had skirmishes over almost every aspect of married life. One of the firsts came when we moved into our first two room apartment. I had spent our last $50 bucks on a keg and bucket of chicken to reward those who helped us move our bed, stereo, TV and kitchen utensils. We had no money until the next paycheck and only one credit card for gas. When I sobered up a bit after everyone left, we realized we needed food for the week. So we headed to the AMOCO gas station in Lombard and purchased pizzas, lunchables and some soda for the week. We were both worried at the time but we figured it out together.
Our mutual commitment to overcome anything life would throw at us would become our greatest strength. The hard truth is that marriage is simple but not easy.
The apostle Paul often gets maligned by those who fail to take all his writings and the context of his writings into account on this subject. Paul is often represented by these people as someone who was against marriage and women. However, this is simply not so. Today’s scripture is often pointed to as proof but in most cases Paul was only reiterating what Jesus taught (Check out Matt 5:31-32, 19:112, Mark 12:1-12 Luke 6:18). And when Jesus didn’t teach on a question that Paul was asked a question about, he tried to make a distinction between his opinion and God’s truth so nobody would get confused with the authority of God.
Let’s jump into 1 Cor 7 verse one
Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”
This is a perfect example of a line taken out of context. The quotation marks let us know that someone else asked a question. Paul did not make the statement. He is only answering a question.
2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. 3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
Paul is highlighting a key to keeping a loving Christian marriage: one man/one woman, fidelity, self control, mutual submission and prayer. He then adds his personal bias.
6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
Paul was admitting not everyone can be celebate. He is not saying one is better than the other. He is saying he believes celibacy has been a gift from God so that he could be solely focused. He continues from there to discuss all the different aspects of life as married or single. All of which do not condemn but stress the importance of: mutual love, respect, and submission.
In 2017, the U.S. census reported 110 million unmarried people over the age of 18—that's 45 percent of the American adults ... Among today's growing single population, 63 percent have never been married.
The question then arises: Is singleness as valid as marriage for producing spiritual life and a great witness for Jesus?
Scriptures would point to yes! Jesus says it is good “for those to whom it has been given” (Matt. 19:11).
Single people are spared the “troubles” of marriage. Let’s be honest: life is more complicated when you add another person, children, inlaws and pets. There’s more than one person to consider in decisions about the use of time, accommodation, holidays, even the daily menu. Children bring great pleasure but plenty of anxiety as well. Marriage does bring “many troubles in this life” and, Paul says later in the 1 Cor 7, “I want to spare you this” (1 Cor. 7:28). He mentions these troubles chiefly because of the bearing, they have on the next point.
Single christians get to devote themselves more fully to God’s work:
“An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife—and his interests are divided” (1 Cor. 7:32-34….)
Single people have a greater responsibility and challenge due to the additional time they have and as a consequence must come to terms with the physical, mental and spiritual reality that we were made for relationships.
We aren’t designed to be on our own, and if we aren’t to be married, whether in the short or long term, a single person must look to satisfy their need for intimacy through other relationships that will witness to the world in the same way.
This will mean the single person will need to take the initiative to establish healthy relationships with friends and family that includes mutual love, respect and submission.
There have been a lot of people who have made fun of marriage throughout the ages.
A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband. - Michel de Montaigne
Love: A temporary insanity curable by marriage. - Ambrose Bierce
One should always be in love. That’s the reason one should never marry. - Oscar Wilde
While some deride marriage as a killer of love, the truth is marriage is an evolution of love. It is an internal and spiritual movement from self to otherness. From “what do I get or feel” to the genuineness of self sacrifice and wanting more for another. It’s the reason when counseling couples considering marriage, I stress that Christian marriage is designed as an incredible witness to the world of what it means to be a Christian. It’s a perfect witness of letting go of unicorns and butterfly feelings to grasp a deeper relationship with our creator. It reflects God’s self sacrificing love for humanity.
Christian marriage is based on agape, the Greek word used in Jesus’ teachings and early Christian writings to describe the kind of love God expresses to human beings. Agape has nothing to do with the fanciful concepts of romantic love upon which so many American cultural marriage myths are founded.
Despite how pleasurable such feelings may be at the beginning of the relationship, they seldom have the staying power to withstand a lifetime of ups and downs—the “for better or for worse” in the marriage vows so many repeat.
Paul actually devotes a whole chapter to this agape idea later in 1 Corinthians.You may have heard a well-known phrase from this section: “Love is patient, love is kind.” This kind of unconditional love—or an active striving to live out this kind of love daily—marks a genuinely Christian marriage, just as it characterizes an authentically Christian life. Agape is based on the deliberate choices of the lover, not the responses of the beloved.
Think about it for a minute - God, who is everything, made everything and has everything. Looks down on his creation from perfection to see our waywardness and instead of scrapping the project and starting over, decides to come to earth to fix the problem through his suffering, death and resurrection. A problem we created when we behave like spoiled birthday kids at an amusement park. Why? Because He unselfishly loves and wants us to do the same.
How hard must this be for God to see so many ignore his action? We may never know but that's why it is so important for us to witness to His love in every aspect of our lives. It's also why marriage is not an indulgence but a witness and a discipline for those who choose it. In marriage all parties learn considerateness and forgiveness as part of the exercise of a singular belief in God’s will in conjunction with His commands. Unfortunately, over 50% of marriages end in divorce for all kinds of reasons – some valid and some not. But the truth is, it’s always painful.
In 2017, the U.S. census reported 110 million unmarried people over the age of 18—that's 45 percent of the American adults ... Among today's growing single population, 63 percent have never been married.
The question then arises: Is singleness as valid as marriage for producing spiritual life and a great witness for Jesus?
Scriptures would point to yes! Jesus says it is good “for those to whom it has been given” (Matt. 19:11).
Single people are spared the “troubles” of marriage. Let’s be honest: life is more complicated when you add another person, children, inlaws and pets. There’s more than one person to consider in decisions about the use of time, accommodation, holidays, even the daily menu. Children bring great pleasure but plenty of anxiety as well. Marriage does bring “many troubles in this life” and, Paul says later in the 1 Cor 7, “I want to spare you this” (1 Cor. 7:28). He mentions these troubles chiefly because of the bearing, they have on the next point.
Single christians get to devote themselves more fully to God’s work:
“An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife—and his interests are divided” (1 Cor. 7:32-34….)
Single people have a greater responsibility and challenge due to the additional time they have and as a consequence must come to terms with the physical, mental and spiritual reality that we were made for relationships.
We aren’t designed to be on our own, and if we aren’t to be married, whether in the short or long term, a single person must look to satisfy their need for intimacy through other relationships that will witness to the world in the same way.
This will mean the single person will need to take the initiative to establish healthy relationships with friends and family that includes mutual love, respect and submission.
Reference: Warren Wiersbe Commentary 590-593, https://www.exploregod.com/articles/what-is-christian-marriage
For more messages like this live, check out https://communitycenter.life
