Is Divorce the "unpardonable" sin?
“I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true … Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers (John 4:17-18, 39-41).” For many divorced Christians, being treated as “second class citizens” by the Body of Christ is an unfortunate reality. Divorce is often taught as the unpardonable sin. Therefore, you will have statements made like the following one I came across the other day; “It is all too commonplace to be someone's 2nd, 3rd or 4th spouse. Let's try & be someone's 1st, last & only spouse.” Now, I doubt there are too many divorcees who went into their marriage planning on getting divorced. I also know that divorce is not only a problem within the Christian community, but in society as a whole.
However, divorce is a sin that was taken away from the eyes of God when Jesus Christ died on the cross. The failure to recognize this truth has created a divide in the Christian community that rarely gets attention. Many solid Christians are prevented from having roles in the Church, despite having much to offer, because they have been divorced. Furthermore, these same Christians not only feel separated from their Christian family, but they feel that they are separated from God as well. Despite knowing all the scriptures assuring them of God’s forgiveness and unconditional love, they do not experience it for themselves due in large part to the attitudes and actions of other Christians. They go years and lifetimes being looked down upon and maybe they even question their own faith because of it. When Jesus was speaking to the woman at the well, He exposed her many past marriages; five in all. However, not once did He use it as an opportunity to condemn her in anyway. In fact, His focus, like our focus should be, was not on her failed marriages, but on bringing her to faith in Him! And what was the result of His actions? Many people came to believe in Jesus because of her testimony. Instead of going away defeated and feeling unworthy, unloved and unused by God, she went away excited, talked about Jesus, and people were saved. If God used a Samaritan woman, who had been divorced five times, to spread the Gospel, I am confident He can use someone who is a spouse for the “2nd, 3rd or 4th time."
Suffering for the Gospel
“Now I want you to know, brothers, that
what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard
and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been
encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly
(Philippians 1:12-14).” Now, it is not my desire to be imprisoned for any
reason, much less for preaching the Gospel. However, it is telling that Paul
rejoiced over the fact that his imprisonment, described as his “chains,”
resulted in other Christians being emboldened to preach the Gospel. How often
is it taught that the motivation to preach the Gospel is as the result of
someone else being blessed in some way? Even worse, how often are Christians
taught that God’s blessings in their life are tied directly to the amount of
preaching or Christian living they do? But, it is suffering for the Gospel, in
many ways, which is what God taught, could happen to us. If you received a
letter from someone who said they were put in prison because of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, would you, as a Christian, be emboldened to preach the Gospel as
well? Or is your motivation to simply let others preach it, especially if it
the result is being put in “chains”?
When Jesus said that we would be hated
because the world hated Him first, being hated for preaching Jesus Christ
should embolden us because it only validates the truth of the Gospel. In fact,
after being flogged and ordered not to preach the Gospel, “The apostles left
the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering
disgrace for the Name (Acts 5:41).” Again, suffering for the Gospel of Jesus
Christ was seen as an honor. Again, I don’t want any Christian to be put in
jail or beaten because of the name of Jesus Christ. However, in this day and
age where anything related to our faith is not tolerated and Christians around
the world are suffering for Jesus Christ, it should not be a time to shy away
from preaching the Gospel or leave it to others to do so as to avoid possibly
suffering. My prayer is that we not only preach the Gospel, but that if we
suffer for it, somebody will be encouraged to speak the word of God more
courageously and fearlessly!
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