Singleness

As we approach Single Awareness Day (aka Valentine's Day) I thought I would use my blog for something other than my daily schedule: personal rhetoric. :)

Today in my Corinthians Bible Study we studied 1 Cor. 7, which is on marriage. In this chapter Paul discusses how he wishes that all could be unmarried like he is. Throughout the chapter we see that the mindset is quite opposite than today's American Protestant mindset. Today the church has become wedding factories; it is the business of the church to marry people. The Protestant view seems to have the idea that if you are not married than there is something wrong.

It used to be that in the Jewish tradition marriage made someone whole (as in Adam and Eve completing one another). However, Paul's view is that after Christ came the wholeness is found in the union with Christ not with another human being. Which I thought was an interesting point.

Paul says in 1 Cor. 7:32-33 "An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs--how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of the world--how he can please his wife--and his interests are divided." Singles can devote themselves more wholly to the things of the Lord without being distracted by family, etc. This is what the books I have read reiterate.

My time here at SPU has been spent in reflection on my singleness. My Bible Studies have focused on what Christian singleness looks like. Unlike what Paul appears to be saying here (i.e. singleness is the better way) the books I have read primarily state that " 'while you are waiting' you should live this way..." However, is there a way that Christians today are not thinking about? Churches today struggle with what to do with single adults. They have youth programs, college programs, married programs, but rarely do they have single adult programs (and if they do it is awkward because there is a wide age range). For the church to be ignoring these people is wrong. We need churches who champion these people.

I am saying this not to say that marriage is bad, for not even Paul is saying that. Paul is saying that neither marriage nor singleness is wrong but one allows more time/service for God. I believe that the Protestant outlook perhaps needs to be revamped. These people do not deserve our pity but our pride for they are serving the Lord in a way that others cannot. God has called them to singleness, whether it is for a short time or for their whole life. Singles should not be looked down upon but rather uplifted for they are doing something few are able to.

Perhaps I can state these things because I have had strong single adult role models in my life. People I look up to and want to be like. For that reason I know that if I don't get married it will not be the end of the world (despite what the world--or even the church--tells me.) However, it saddens me to see the American Protestant mindset to be so skewed.

I hope that this allows you to ponder singleness in a way perhaps you hadn't before. I also hope that the Christian community can change because they way it is now is not right.