... or Why Is It IMPORTANT To Study PM?
(The following was first written in 2000 after several months of being alone ...)
For many Christians, those who are uninterested in plural marriage and perhaps haven't run "afoul" of it, a presentation on PM must begin with justifying the topic for study. The questions must be asked and answered:
** Why is this topic of relevance to us as Christians?
** Why should I spend my time on it?
**Does it have any bearing on my own Christian experience?
** More explicitly, does it have any bearing on the subject of Salvation?
** If not, then I don't want to be bothered! It is merely vain argument which we are told to avoid, and for which I have no time nor interest in the press of my busy life.
It is a valid set of questions and a valid objection. I'd like to compile a number of, hopefully, compelling reasons why this topic is serioous, is valid, and does impact on both our lives as Western Christians, and also on our spiritual understanding. What follows is one reason that calls to me. Comments ARE solicited. *grin*
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Is there REALLY room at the Cross for me?
We're told (Eph 5 and elsewhere) that earthly marriage is a model which provides for us an example and laboratory in which to gain an understanding of God's relationship to us. We are to learn lessons from marriage which can be applied to the relationship between humans and The Divine.
Looking around us at society as it exists right now, looking at demographics and the ratio of men to women, this becomes troubling, for one of the lessons in a monogamous society is that there is NOT a husband for everyone. Many women who want to be in a marriage, who NEED to be in a marriage, who EARNESTLY DESIRE to be married, are left out due to simple logistics -- more women than men.
I've been married my whole adult life but suddenly, due to a separation, am experiencing single life. Believe me, all those complaints about how single people feel left out? About how church and society is geared for married folks? They're true, every one!
Monogamous-as-imperative thinking means that some are inevitably left out, regardless of their desire to be part of a family. What happens when I apply THAT lesson to the spiritual realm?
Let me ask: Do I have just cause to fear? Is it possible that there WON'T be room at the Cross for me? Is there some quota which cannot be exceeded, and may I just plain miss out? One too many? Doomed to live whatever life I can manage alone? Is it possible that I may earnestly seek to be part of the family of God, one of the brides of Christ, but never hear a loving word of acceptance from Him because there are just too many?
Won't someone please tell me? Is there REALLY room at the Cross for ME?
Equally horrible to contemplate, might I be accepted, slip under the wire, but because of this quota might someone else, equally hurting, equally in need of the saving Husbanding of Jesus, be left out because a snagged the place that could have been theirs, and I just got lucky? How horrible, how intolerable to carry that weight through eternity!
Oh, please God, is there room at the Cross for EVERYONE?
I can't even write this without sobbing. Even the thought of these implications tears me apart inside. If it were true, how could I bear to face eternity knowing that someone I love got left behind due to quota? Someone I love so well that I would have gladly exchanged my place to give them the chance at eternity? A spouse? A son? A daughter? Parent? Grandchild? Sibling? How could I bear it?
The answer, if I can calm my heart back down, is that there IS room at the Cross for everyone. God's family order makes a place for EVERYONE. There is NO QUOTA! No-one need be left out.
Oh, thank you, Jesus! There IS room at the cross for me! And for EVERY member of my family. (I pause again to sob my thanks.) There's room for every one of us. He has received us joyfully and given us the task of seeking and bringing even more to join His Family as well.
Which brings us full circle back to earthly marriage, and how it depicts the love that Christ has so richly bestowed upon us all.
Somehow the Christian's model of marriage HAS to depict this aspect of God's kingdom, else it portrays a FALSE image to the world.
As there is a place in the family of God for every human being in the role of bride, so our concept of Godly marriage must somehow make a place for every woman, whether each one seeks such a place for herself and enters marriage or not. Our theology on this topic MUST make a place for every woman, if we are to accept, without reservation, that there is room at the cross for each one of us.
Christ-centered, patriarchal, plural marriage does, in theory, do exactly that. With that in mind, the topic deserves, nay demands, our careful consideration.
(The following was first written in 2000 after several months of being alone ...)
For many Christians, those who are uninterested in plural marriage and perhaps haven't run "afoul" of it, a presentation on PM must begin with justifying the topic for study. The questions must be asked and answered:
** Why is this topic of relevance to us as Christians?
** Why should I spend my time on it?
**Does it have any bearing on my own Christian experience?
** More explicitly, does it have any bearing on the subject of Salvation?
** If not, then I don't want to be bothered! It is merely vain argument which we are told to avoid, and for which I have no time nor interest in the press of my busy life.
It is a valid set of questions and a valid objection. I'd like to compile a number of, hopefully, compelling reasons why this topic is serioous, is valid, and does impact on both our lives as Western Christians, and also on our spiritual understanding. What follows is one reason that calls to me. Comments ARE solicited. *grin*
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is there REALLY room at the Cross for me?
We're told (Eph 5 and elsewhere) that earthly marriage is a model which provides for us an example and laboratory in which to gain an understanding of God's relationship to us. We are to learn lessons from marriage which can be applied to the relationship between humans and The Divine.
Looking around us at society as it exists right now, looking at demographics and the ratio of men to women, this becomes troubling, for one of the lessons in a monogamous society is that there is NOT a husband for everyone. Many women who want to be in a marriage, who NEED to be in a marriage, who EARNESTLY DESIRE to be married, are left out due to simple logistics -- more women than men.
I've been married my whole adult life but suddenly, due to a separation, am experiencing single life. Believe me, all those complaints about how single people feel left out? About how church and society is geared for married folks? They're true, every one!
Monogamous-as-imperative thinking means that some are inevitably left out, regardless of their desire to be part of a family. What happens when I apply THAT lesson to the spiritual realm?
Let me ask: Do I have just cause to fear? Is it possible that there WON'T be room at the Cross for me? Is there some quota which cannot be exceeded, and may I just plain miss out? One too many? Doomed to live whatever life I can manage alone? Is it possible that I may earnestly seek to be part of the family of God, one of the brides of Christ, but never hear a loving word of acceptance from Him because there are just too many?
Won't someone please tell me? Is there REALLY room at the Cross for ME?
Equally horrible to contemplate, might I be accepted, slip under the wire, but because of this quota might someone else, equally hurting, equally in need of the saving Husbanding of Jesus, be left out because a snagged the place that could have been theirs, and I just got lucky? How horrible, how intolerable to carry that weight through eternity!
Oh, please God, is there room at the Cross for EVERYONE?
I can't even write this without sobbing. Even the thought of these implications tears me apart inside. If it were true, how could I bear to face eternity knowing that someone I love got left behind due to quota? Someone I love so well that I would have gladly exchanged my place to give them the chance at eternity? A spouse? A son? A daughter? Parent? Grandchild? Sibling? How could I bear it?
The answer, if I can calm my heart back down, is that there IS room at the Cross for everyone. God's family order makes a place for EVERYONE. There is NO QUOTA! No-one need be left out.
Oh, thank you, Jesus! There IS room at the cross for me! And for EVERY member of my family. (I pause again to sob my thanks.) There's room for every one of us. He has received us joyfully and given us the task of seeking and bringing even more to join His Family as well.
Which brings us full circle back to earthly marriage, and how it depicts the love that Christ has so richly bestowed upon us all.
Somehow the Christian's model of marriage HAS to depict this aspect of God's kingdom, else it portrays a FALSE image to the world.
As there is a place in the family of God for every human being in the role of bride, so our concept of Godly marriage must somehow make a place for every woman, whether each one seeks such a place for herself and enters marriage or not. Our theology on this topic MUST make a place for every woman, if we are to accept, without reservation, that there is room at the cross for each one of us.
Christ-centered, patriarchal, plural marriage does, in theory, do exactly that. With that in mind, the topic deserves, nay demands, our careful consideration.
