Christian Marriage (12) Failure

Given the current state of the church in the western world, it is not surprising that divorce and remarriage are almost as common in the church as it is in the world. When the church is ambivalent about the God’s standards and lacking the fullness of the Spirit, we cannot expect Christians to be walking in his ways. When the spirit of the world is rampant in the church, divorce naturally follows.

This is not just an issue for those whose marriages have failed. The “hardness of heart” of the church is a greater problem for church leaders. The modern church provides inadequate discipleship, so it produces weak Christians, so it is not surprising that they fall into sin and want divorce. The modern church, does not understand spiritual protection (partly because it has bought into the “covering” lie) so the spiritual forces of evil are often free to tear couples apart. The increase in Christian divorce represents the failure of the church, not the failure of the people being divorced. If the church does not have the spiritual power to protect couples from attack, it does not have the right to prevent them from divorcing.

Widespread divorce amongst Christians is a serious problem for the church. It undermines our gospel witness, as it implies that the gospel and the Spirit are not very effective. Instead of accepting divorce as normal, Christians leaders should be seeking to understand why evil has gained such a strong hold on the church.