1 Corinthians 7. 35 I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you
may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord. – St. Paul
Oh, the theology we build… some of the most confusing
stuff comes out of Paul’s answers to the Corinthians questions. The confusion
is, in part, self-imposed because we moderns try to modernize what Paul was
saying to an ancient culture. It doesn’t mean it isn’t applicable for today,
but it does mean we need to be wise in how we apply it in our modern world.
The term modern
is not ‘kryptonitic’; meaning, just because we deem something modern, is not some all-encompassing determination
that ancient has no meaning, or
bearing in our times. (Free-will is another kryptonitic
term: not even God has the power to overcome freewill… how misguided…).
Modern simply
means this: it applies to our times, our culture, our mode of living. But just
because something is modern doesn’t give it the right to be the only, or best,
way to go about living. Modern is as much a curse as it is a blessing. Modern
means we live differently (in some respects) than did the ancients. We do, as McKnight
writes: our way in our day. Paul was
writing to people who did things their way in their day. Culturally they
approached marriage differently than we, in the west, do today.
But over and above all
the ways of all the days is this: how does one (in whatever days) relate to the Lord, and do it well? Paul
wrote: I am saying this for your own
good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided
devotion to the Lord. Paul espoused a
right way.
The right way simply boils down to this: what (and
how) is my relationship to (and with) the Lord? Who is God to me, and, how is that
relationship? The right way is devotion
to Him. That doesn’t mean human marriage is a wrong thing (thank You Lord!).
But marriage (modern or other) can be, a distraction, of sorts, in our devotion
to God. I know of people who engage in what I might term, “spousal” idolatry.
Spousal idolatry is human, normal, and somewhat expected
given the individual. Spousal idolatry, however, puts the supposed (or
expected) relationship with God in a weird place. The spouse does not become
God, but the spouse sure does take up a lot of time, energy, and thought in the
greater scope of living. Spousal idolatry does not limit God, but it does get
in the way of an individual’s devotion to God.
Yes, we are to give our spouse our attention and
devotion, but where will ‘spouse’ be in that future conversation with God on
the day of eternity? And where does the Kingdom of God come into play in the present
relationship of spouses? Paul, I think, was just offering up a gentle word of admonition
to all cultures: don’t let human
relationships, no matter how good they are, get in the way of devotion to God.
The right way is to make room, with God, for wife and family… let’s avoid just
making room for God.
Father, You made
human relationships what they are, but You never intended them to get in the
way of the individual relationships You desire to have with each of us. Help me
to make room for the others in my life as I serve and devote myself to You.
Help me to keep things in proper perspective and to believe that as I do, my
relationship with You – and them – grows better, greater; and righter. Amen
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