Blog
“Singleness in God”
Categories: Bulletin Articles, M. W. Bassford
Most Christians are aware that when it comes to serving God, we need to take our cues from His word rather than from the world. However, the dangers here are broader than we often realize. It is not only conformity to the world that poses a problem. A rejection of worldliness that is so emphatic that it pushes us to the other, equally ungodly, extreme is equally problematic.
Consider, for instance, the reaction of the Lord’s church to the denominational practice of clerical celibacy. We correctly note that nothing in the Bible requires vows of chastity from religious leaders, and we correctly identify the many temptations and problems that such vows create.
However, in our zeal to oppose such error, we end up denying that singlehood can have spiritual value at all and exalting marriage as the truest way to live a godly life. Married brethren may not be able to sense it, but any Christian who has been unmarried for a while will tell you that there is a caste system in the church that puts couples and families at the top with single Christians as second-class citizens.
To detect signs of this caste system, we need look no further than the subjects of our sermons. Marriage and family is probably the single most common subject for a gospel meeting. How often do we hear of gospel meetings directed exclusively at the unmarried?
If the Scriptures supported this bias, that would be one thing, but instead, they have as much to say about the spiritual value of the unmarried as of the married. Yes, the qualifications of elders and deacons involve marriage, but we also must reckon with Paul’s words about the usefulness of being unmarried in 1 Corinthians 7. In vs. 32-35, he points out that unmarried Christians can devote themselves entirely to God, whereas married Christians are inevitably torn between pleasing God and pleasing their spouses.
Brethren commonly dismiss the implications of this discussion by saying that it relates only to “the present distress”, and it is true that some of what Paul says here in praise of singleness (especially vs. 29-31) is limited to a context of great upheaval. However, vs. 32-35 is not context-specific. I love my wife and family, and I would not surrender them for anything, yet I spend as much time and energy on pleasing my wife as godly husbands did 2000 years ago. If I didn’t have a family, I could use all those resources in the Lord’s service instead.
Single Christians, then, are not second-class spiritual citizens. Even if they do not currently experience many of the joys that married Christians know, they have been presented with unique opportunities to glorify their Master. Rather than mourning what they do not have, they ought instead to rejoice in all that they can do. Even the best marriage only will last a lifetime, but good works are an eternal memorial before God. When single Christians give their time, talents, and money to Him, they are storing up a treasure for themselves that will last forever.
