Tonight i was passing by our lounge and some guys were watching Joel Olsteen on TV. Just for kicks and giggles, i'm assuming. But in the 30 seconds or so that i stopped for a listen, i heard Joel preaching passionately and with a big smile on his face about how the LORD is gonna come through for all those people in the dark times of singleness, and He is going to bring them the perfect person just for them. AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! WHY, JOEL, WHY?!?!? People act like singleness is such an affliction, a disease that is a result of the fall, and the only cure for it and the only hope for completeness as a human is marriage--as God intended, of course. People can't be completely fulfilled if they are single. People haven't "arrived" if they are still single. I think that this is legitimately the opinion, if only is less harsh terms, of the majority of Christians in America.
This drives me nuts. How is this preaching furthering the Kingdom of God? How is this teaching building disciples of Christ? How is this view supported by Scripture? IT'S NOT!! In fact, Scripture will give us the very opposite perspective! According to Scripture, the very Word of God, singleness is a GIFT! Singleness is something that some people are called to and blessed with in order to completely devote their lives to the LORD and to working for His Kingdom. 1 Corinthians 7 is the main chapter that talks about singleness as a call for some.
32But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; 33but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, 34and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.35This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.
1 Corinthians 7:32-35
Those who are single have a greater freedom to work for the LORD. Their concerns are undivided, and they can devote all their time to serving the LORD, rather than worrying about a family.
Jesus had things to say about this too.
9"And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery." 10The disciples said to Him, "If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry." 11But He said to them, "Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. 12For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it."
Matthew 19:9-12
Jesus said that this is for some, not for everyone. Singleness is a specific call from the LORD to live and to serve utterly devoted only to Him. It is not for everyone; it is not for most people.
The thing that drives me bonkers about Joel Olsteen and cohorts is that marriage is the ultimate expression of God's will for us. But that goes completely counter to what Jesus, our LORD, says to us! When the Sadducees try to trap Jesus with a question about the resurrection concerning marriage, Jesus doesn't give them any answer they expect, and responds with "At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven" (Matt. 22:30). Marriage is something TEMPORARY and INCOMPARABLE to the glory that we will receive at the resurrection at the last day!! So, if someone is called to live single for the LORD, it is prophetic sign to the world of the future glory that is to come. It is a way that God is telling the world that marriage is not the most important thing in this world--God is. In the new heaven and new earth, marriage will not exist--living single for the LORD will be THE reality. Shouldn't part of our job as Christians, as ambassadors to the world on the LORD's behalf, be bringing the reality of heaven down to earth?
In no way am i saying that marriage is a bad thing. It is a wonderful gift from the LORD, that i am sure of. But i think Christians need to consider the alternative, singleness, also as a wonderful gift from the LORD. The LORD will call some of His people to live this prophetic lifestyle completely devoted to Him. Most are not called to this. It is only one particular kind of radical discipleship. So as Christians trying to live as disciples, shouldn't we at least look into this as a possible option that the LORD might call us to? At least know that marriage is not the epitome of our existence. The LORD should be our end goal, and to serve Him fully. We can do that if we are married, but we can do that better if we are single. It just depends on what the LORD has called us to, and how serious we are about following.
Joel Olsteen and the Christian culture that is obsessed with marriage shows me a Christianity that doesn't take following Jesus Christ seriously. It shows me a culture that doesn't grasp the reality and the depth of our commitment to Jesus Christ. It shows me that the Church has a lot of work to do in getting back to Scripture as a whole being the authoritative Word of God. It shows me that i need to be out there working for the Kingdom within the Kingdom.
I concur! However, to his credit, if you heard him talk on other "Biblical" subjects, you might have a stronger opinion against him. In a lot of ways, he makes you're s career/mission harder. If he believes in a false Christianity, does he believe in a false Christ? I know that we all do to some degree, but the Bible makes it clear that there are certain things as false teaching and there are certain people called false teachers. I am worried that Joel Olsteen is either dancing on that line or has crossed it.
ReplyDeleteGood thoughts, and I'm glad that you were still trying to be fair to him!
“We can do that [serving God fully] if we are married, but we can do that better if we are single.” I know and value your side of the argument. In fact, I am on your side. However, I would be cautious as to how you react to our culture’s bias to marriage. I believe that singleness is not better than marriage and that we cannot serve God better if we are single. I would argue that it is easier to serve God fully if we are single, something that we should all pursue and value. However, if God calls one to marriage, it in no way diminishes the intensity of one’s devotion to God. It does, however, add conflicting priorities (God and one’s spouse) which entails harder decisions as to how one will serve God and one’s spouse.
ReplyDeleteSubsequently, it would disagree with your belief that singleness is the best representation of the Kingdom. Only in terms of the method and practice of marriage to one person would marriage be done away with. And I think this is the part that you and Jesus were referring to (Matt. 22:30). It would be the official covenant of marriage, the binding contract that keeps us faithful to our spouse. In the perfect Kingdom, such contracts and the exclusivity of marriage would be unnecessary and improper. (In no way am I suggesting a sexuality that becomes loose and universal rather than confined to a marriage. Although, it is an interesting thought to ponder – how our sexuality will be reflected and used to God’s glory in the ultimate Kingdom.)
Perhaps it is marriage that is the deepest form of commitment and love. One that God has blessed us with; a love and commitment to a fellow member of the body of Christ that is the deepest and closest way that we have to express God’s love and Kingdom to each other here on Earth. If this is the case, it will be the love commitment in marriage that is shown to be a reflection of the love in God’s Kingdom when we are redeemed and restored fully to God – being perfect in love, commitment, and action to God and to all people. It can be argued therefore, that marriage, in its purest sense of love and commitment to a fellow member of Christ’s body, is the best representation of the essence of the Kingdom of God.
So our innate desire for this kind of love in marriage is understandable. But this desire also seems to be for marriage and marriage itself seems to be, in a sense, exclusive. Should we not try to reflect God’s love upon all people, regardless if we are married to them or not? Of course! But Scripture itself seems to set apart the unity and commitment of marriage in direct relation to Christ’s relationship to his bride (Eph 5:25-30).
I do recognize, however, the assumptions that I am making in this argument. Mainly, that the way one loves in marriage is deeper than the love that a singleton has for a brother or sister in Christ. And I suppose this is up for speculation as I do not have solid “proof”(other than the fact that Scripture sets it apart) to support my assumption. What are your thoughts?
I didn't say that marriage was the best REPRESENTATION of the Kingdom, i said that it was a prophetic sign of the coming perfected Kingdom. i think there is a difference. i think that you are thinking of how marriage reflects the love of Christ for His Church, which is a true biblical metaphor. marriage is the deepest form of love and commitment that we can achieve in this world, and that is why it is used as a metaphor for Christ's love (i don't know about the difference between a metaphor and a representation).
ReplyDeletei feel like i didn't give marriage a fair shot in this post. marriage is a wonderful gift from the LORD. but so is singleness. both need to be considered when thinking of how to be a disciple of Christ. it's just a matter of what kind of disciple you want (or rather, that God is calling you) to be. and i feel like i should clarify that in the way i am (and Paul and Jesus are ) talking about being single is for the sake of the Kingdom of God, a very deliberate call to singleness for the LORD, not just that you've never found "the right one." but you can serve Christ fully if you are married or single. but if being single for the LORD makes being a disciple easier, then why wouldn't it be classified as "better"? as disciples of Christ, shouldn't our desires for what is "better" be that which lets us serve Christ better? so i guess i still stand by what i said, based off the opinion of Paul in 1 Corinthians 7, that being single for the LORD is in fact a higher calling than being married.