Friday, June 29, 2007
Being Single
Justin Taylor links to John Piper and a theology of singleness.
I am in something of a unique position here as I spent the first 20 years of my adulthood single and came to marriage at a very late age. I have a great deal of appreciation for what Piper is saying here, I agree with most of it. I certainly agree with this:
I have to say that in singleness I had more time to devote to, for lack of a better term, "God's work." But I can also say that in marriage I have learned more about how to be other focused, which is the attitude of Christ which I am to have in myself, than I could ever possibly hope to have in singleness.
Turth be told, I think as with all such questions, to try to decide what's better is the wrong approach. I think it is more of a situations and seasons thing. We cannot forget how often the marriage relationship is used as a model of our relationship with God. There is an undoubted ordained place for marriage on this planet. And yet, singleness has distinct advantages as well.
What worked best for me is to submit to God my station, be it single or married, and to allow Him to bless and ordain the state at the moment.
I think, in the end, that is the real issue - it's not where we are, but being in submission to Him wherever that is. A wife, or husband, can be either a hinderance or a help to that submission - and that is not a question of the behavior of the spouse, but rather how we relate to the spouse. God provides as we need and are ready.
Sometimes I think we let our questons get in the way of our submission....
Related Tags: marriage, singleness, theology, John Piper, submission
Take heed here lest you minimize what I am saying and do not hear how radical it really is. I am not sentimentalizing singleness to make the unmarried feel good. I am declaring the temporary and secondary nature of marriage and family over against the eternal and primary nature of the church. Marriage and family are temporary for this age; the church is forever. I am declaring the radical biblical truth that being in a human family is no sign of eternal blessing, but being in God’s family is means being eternally blessed. Relationships based on family are temporary. Relationships based on union with Christ are eternal. Marriage is a temporary institution, but what it stands for lasts forever. “In the resurrection,” Jesus said, “they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Matthew 22:30).I am loathe to disagree with John Piper on anything, but....
I am in something of a unique position here as I spent the first 20 years of my adulthood single and came to marriage at a very late age. I have a great deal of appreciation for what Piper is saying here, I agree with most of it. I certainly agree with this:
I am declaring the radical biblical truth that being in a human family is no sign of eternal blessing, but being in God’s family is means being eternally blessed.But my first wonder is why are they mutually exclusive? My wife and I work pretty hard to make sure our marriage and the family it creates is first and foremost a part of God's family.
I have to say that in singleness I had more time to devote to, for lack of a better term, "God's work." But I can also say that in marriage I have learned more about how to be other focused, which is the attitude of Christ which I am to have in myself, than I could ever possibly hope to have in singleness.
Turth be told, I think as with all such questions, to try to decide what's better is the wrong approach. I think it is more of a situations and seasons thing. We cannot forget how often the marriage relationship is used as a model of our relationship with God. There is an undoubted ordained place for marriage on this planet. And yet, singleness has distinct advantages as well.
What worked best for me is to submit to God my station, be it single or married, and to allow Him to bless and ordain the state at the moment.
I think, in the end, that is the real issue - it's not where we are, but being in submission to Him wherever that is. A wife, or husband, can be either a hinderance or a help to that submission - and that is not a question of the behavior of the spouse, but rather how we relate to the spouse. God provides as we need and are ready.
Sometimes I think we let our questons get in the way of our submission....
Related Tags: marriage, singleness, theology, John Piper, submission
