Together

The Bible can help us to consider what it really means to imitate God - that sounds like a tall order, but it is what we are called to do. In Ephesians 5, we can read:
1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints...

When we really stop and think about the implications of our actions, and prayerfully ponder the decisions we make, we can experience the satisfaction of obedience.  And, obedience leads to victory. We are in a struggle against the desires of the flesh, and we need to put the resources of the Spirit into action - to resist temptation, to repent of sin, and to remember God's instructions to us - He has given us His power, and call us to develop His perspective.

+++++

The Bible is clear in communicating the heart of God, in relating His standards to us.  We read in 1st
Corinthians 6:
17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

Last week, Glenn Stanton of Focus on the Family talked with me about issues surrounding the television show, The Bachelorette, including matters of purity.  In our conversation, he talked about cohabitation - couples living together outside of marriage; he has written extensively on the subject, including the harmful effects.

There is a church in Dallas that has an aim to transition cohabiting couples into marriage.  The Get Religion website ran a piece centered on a New York Times story about the church's program.  The article is quoted here:

Fortunately, the couple had a support network through the Concord Church, a nondenominational Christian church, in Dallas. Alongside five other cohabiting couples, they signed up for a “step into marriage” challenge and worked out their issues. On Aug. 27, 2016, all six couples, plus 19 other couples who also took the challenge, married in a mass ceremony. Mr. and Ms. Evans now have a daughter, Ava Naomi, who was born this past March, and Mr. Evans couldn’t be happier. “If I was doing any better,” he said, “it would probably be illegal.”

This is not an isolated instance, as the story relates:

Every three years since 2010, Pastor Bryan Carter has issued a call to arms to his 8,500 parishioners at Concord, in South Dallas: Disavow living together and commit to marriage. To sweeten the deal, he throws in a free wedding, complete with white gown, tuxedo, wedding bands, bouquets and a post-wedding reception. Mr. Carter officiates for the couples who make it through the 11 weeks of premarital counseling, which is part of the challenge. The handful that bow out of marriage can receive one month’s rent (up to $750) toward a new place to live, so long as it doesn’t include a cohabiting partner.

The website critiqued the Times article, wondering about why the Scriptural perspective was not included, why the Times questioned if the money for weddings could be better spent on the poor, and if the church believed in same-sex marriages.  The Christian Post seems to offer a more Biblically-informed viewpoint; the pastor is quoted as saying: “We continue to see the issue of cohabitation in our church and in our community and we wanted to use God’s Word to give us a pathway..."

The article goes on to state, referring to a recent event: "On Sunday, Carter preached on cohabitation and presented each cohabiting couple with three biblically-based suggestions: to start the process of getting married, to move to separate spaces but continue to date, or to break up." He said, "After I preached on Sunday, nearly 30 couples came up to me and said they wanted to start the process of walking down the aisle,” adding, “I reinforced the idea that following God isn’t just on Sunday; it’s also demonstrated in how we do marriage and family.”

The Post article also said:

Carter cited statistics revealing that nearly 70 percent of married couples live together prior to getting married. However, only about half of cohabiting couples end up marrying.

“Cohabiting is a rising approach to how to do to marriage and family,” he said. “But statistics indicate it’s not serving us that well, as it creates a whole set of dynamics that can make it challenging for marriages and families long-term.”

But it's not just a matter of moving out, according to Pastor Carter; he says, “believe people are trying to figure out how to do marriage and so we’re trying all kinds of options, and they genuinely believe these reasons are good,” adding, “Casual sex is becoming so popular and available that living together now seems normal. But God says sex is reserved for a marriage relationship.”

These stories can remind us that emotions should never supersede the word of God.  Our culture today accepts all sorts of unbiblical ideas on sexuality, and those can be fueled, in a detrimental way, by the intensity of emotion or feeling.  We have to make sure that truth is the guide, holding fast to the realization that God has given us certain principles for a reason, and we act upon them for our best and His glory.

We can also be reminded here of how the Church can help enable people to walk in God's principles - it's not just a matter of declaration, but a matter of dedication.  This church is helping couples to be faithful to Christ and to build their marriages on a strong foundation.  It's a combination of faith and works, which is a way of life prescribed for us: we can declare that we love the Lord, but we show that through our obedience to Him.