Singleness

Unmarried church members can often feel marginalized in the life of a congregation’s community and mission. There are many reasons for this, but surely one is the frequent failure in many congregations to value singleness as a vital and helpful way of life in the family of God. If a church asserts or implies that marriage is the only relational status open to believers, or that it’s the only ‘normal’ and expected relational status to aim at in life, it will exclude a vast number of its members from joyful participation in the mission of God and rob the married of the gifts single members can bestow upon them.

Widows and widowers, the unmarried by choice, the divorced, and those who’ve simply never found themselves in a relationship that would lead to marriage despite their desire to enter that bond, mustn’t be treated like second-class citizens in the Kingdom. On the contrary, singles not only remind us of the celibacy of Christ and many of the ancient Apostolic leaders, but they also point us to the ultimate reality of the heavenly kingdom where we ‘neither marry not are given in marriage, but are as the angels.’ Single Christians in the present point us back to the Apostles and forward to the City of God.

This momentarily raises the objection made by some that Jesus was himself married to Mary Magdalene. This idea entered the popular culture more widely through Dan Brown’s novel “The Da Vinci Code” and some future book and film projects currently underway will be building on this false notion, while hoping for similar commercial success. Brown’s book might be a page-turner, but it’s so crammed with misinformation that getting past the nonsense to the entertainment can be tough. Building your views of Jesus and Church history on a Dan Brown novel is a bit like fashioning your views of Marine Biology on Sponge Bob Square Pants. The preposterous assertion of the marriage of Jesus to Mary Magdalene is ably dealt with in this article by Dr. Mark Roberts.

Jesus never married because in another sense he was already betrothed — to you, as Paul, the single Apostle, notes in 2 Corinthians 11. The Church is the Bride of Christ and we’re looking forward to the great feast when history reaches its ultimate goal in the union of God and humankind described as “the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Begun in the incarnation, effected in redemption, and completed in our glorification, human union with God through Jesus Christ is one of our redemption’s great ends. In that sense, all married Christians remain single and all single Christians are now engaged to be married.

Let’s recover the tremendous opportunity of singleness in the plan of God. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul notes that singles in the church have a great opportunity to serve Christ in ways that the married do not. Let’s also make sure that those who are unmarried in the church experience the warmth of a loving Christian community and are as welcome in fellowship and ministry as those who are married.

Spanish River Church rejoices in the Biblical truth of covenant Christian marriage according to the teaching of Jesus. We also affirm the great work God does in and through our members who are single, at whatever age. To learn more about SRC Ministries, connect with Brian Haring or Dana Nicewander at www.spanishriver.com