December 1

December 1, 2012

A foreign student asked a friend of mine why it was dangerous to walk around in certain parts of Bridgeport. How would you have responded to that question?  The answer he gave had to do with marriage. He said that marriage is the most important building block to the structure we call civilization and when it is missing it produces hurting young people who in turn hurt others.

In the past 60 years we have seen the dismantling of the institution of marriage in our culture. Part of the blame goes to the loose standards of Hollywood. They have taken us from the 60's, where the belly button of the genie "Jeannie" was not allowed to be viewed to the current place where every imaginable perversion is right on our computers and TV sets.

But most of the blame is on us as Christians. We have argued for marriage with our words but not backed them up with our actions. Our marriages suffer the same degree of brokenness as the general population.  And we have not discipled the next generation into healthy marriages.

In First Corinthians 7 Paul elevates marriage and argues for its endurance. The culture of the Corinthian city was just as sexually charged as ours today. Corinth was the first century equivalent of Las Vegas. Yet in the midst of this culture Paul challenged the Christ followers to have distinctive and attractive marriages.

It is true that we have made a mess out of traditional marriage but the answer is not to redefine it; the answer is to "refine" it, to take it back to the radical and explosive power it has when it is done God's way. It is time to throw all caution to the wind and live radical lifestyles of obedience to God.

In our reading today we discovered some revolutionary teachings for the first century and for 2012:

-One woman and one man make up a marriage.

-Sexual fulfillment is a mutual responsibility.  You are to keep each other sexually exhausted.

-Premarital sex is wrong.

-Fight for your marriage when problems arise. Don't walk out the door.

-Don't divorce unless an unbelieving spouse walks away and refuses reconciliation.

Calvin Miller tells the story of a friend who gave him an antique wooden dynamite box made in the 19th century. For years this was a prized possession. It was meticulously constructed with mitered corners, and bore an ominous warning printed in bold red and black letters:

                                     Danger! Dynamite!

At one time the box had, indeed, been dangerous; its contents had to be handled gently. But the last time he looked at the box it was filled with common paraphernalia that could be found in any workroom.

 

There is some force in the universe that doesn't like empty boxes! So when the emptiness is not filled by careful design, it becomes a catchall.

 

What happens to empty boxes also happens to empty marriages. A marriage packed with the contents of God's design has enormous power and strength. It can literally mold nations. But when that box is haphazardly filled with the trivia of our world it loses its power and becomes a shell of what it could be.

 

What is in your dynamite box today, strength and power or an empty shell filled with junk?

 

Commit yourself today to putting the dynamite back into your marriage. Boldly, radically love God and out of the abundance of His love, pour love back out on your spouse. Turn your marriage into a powerhouse of strength for the Lord. The future of America depends on it.