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keepingfaith -> RE: Divorce - One Stop Thread (11/11/2008 12:21:32 PM)
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quote:
We are ALL sinners. NONE of us are fit to minister if we are considering our own righteousness and lack of personal sin. It is by God's calling that REAL ministers are made - in whatever field they happen to be called to.
The apostle Paul knew this humility - there he was, going around throwing men and women into prison, and some of them died. The prisons back then were not the comfortable 3-meals-a-day, warm, bed-provided prisons that we offer prisoners nowadays. Paul made people suffer! Yet God called him RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT - and he became a minister of the Gospel. He was unable to bring back the people who had died at his hands though and he had to live with that the rest of his life, even as divorcees, adulterers, and other "sinners" (which counts us all) have to live with the mistakes/actions of the past.
Much as it may shock some people, God sometimes calls divorced people to ministry. He even blesses them while they do it! God does not have the callousness and remembrance of the past that we sinful people have. His call to us is based on His will and mercy, and provision for those who will hear - it could be a divorced person is the very person He wants to use.
I agree, but there is a difference between someone who was divorced against their will, and someone who treacherously divorced their spouse and abandoned their family, and has no desire to follow God’s will, obey Him, fulfill their vows and love as Christ loves the church the way we are commanded to, or even love our enemies for that matter.
I don’t see divorce as a one time sin… it is a state of rebellion remaining irreconcilable- hard hearted, harboring bitterness, unforgiveness and permanently cutting the other person off and judging them as unredeemable. As you said, we are ALL sinners and Jesus told us not to cast stones unless we are without sin, using the very example of an adulteress… yet some believe He actually gave that exception as grounds for divorce.
I find it kind of hypocritical that so many use the argument that they are “no worse of a sinner” for divorcing their spouse (while that’s completely true)… but justify their sin and claim they are forgiven by the same grace and mercy they refused and still refuse to give their spouse. They claim grace for themselves, but go back and use the law that we are not even under in the NT to divorce their spouse.
When we understand that God made marriage to be an earthly illustration of His covenant with us and His love for us, we can see how important it is to keep our covenant, even in the face of betrayal and a wayward spouse. The same way God remains faithful to us, in the midst of our unfaithfulness . Divorced people in the church can make a big impact, their lives can be a witness for Christ by keeping their covenant, remaining faithful to God and their spouse (whether they do or not), and showing the world how sacred marriage is to Him.
Sadly, this is a foreign concept in the church today and we are looking more and more like the world. We should stand apart and our divorce rate should be a fraction of the world’s, but today it is equal. All through the Sermon on the Mount Jesus raises the standards and tells us how we respond the opposite way of the world when someone betrays and mistreats us… what does not come natural- only in the supernatural ability He gives us and the love He enables us with.
Paul was punishing people, but he did not continue punishing them when he was converted. If we have “punished” our spouse by divorcing them… we do not have to continue punishing them with permanent payback. Like you said, God puts our sins in the past and doesn’t hold them against us… we should do the same for our spouse of all people.
If we murdered someone we cannot bring them back, but divorce is something we have the power to change. We can choose to obey and fulfill our vows… We can choose to not live in a “divorced” state, since it goes against all that Jesus stands for. He stands for unconditional love and forgiveness. He stands for humility and obedience to the point of making himself nothing and dying on a cross for the sins of others, when He was sinless. And because of this, the end result was Him being EXALTED!
So, we should be reflecting His love, His faithfulness, His mercy, His longsuffering…leaving the door to reconciliation open until death just like He does us. We can use divorce as an opportunity to be a light that gives glory to God… one that says even in the face of betrayal, I will love my spouse, forgive them, remain faithful to them and God, whether they love me back or not.
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