A preacher friend of mine was having a conversation we me. We both agreed that somehow church leaders were over emphasizing the sins of [unscriptural] divorce and somehow under emphasizing premarital sex.
When I was a teenager, my church bible classes emphasized the sin of premartial sex over and over again. And yet today, co-ed 20something living together has almost become the norm rather than the exception.
God hates divorce. (Malachi 2:16). And yet he hates other sins too. Proverbs 6:16-19. Lying….Sowing discord….Among other things. We hear about the sin of divorce because it is so public, and involves legal document(s).
Somehow most of us at one time in our life has lied, or at least withheld information. Is this a reason for refusing church membership? Perhaps not, since lying is a one time act. Divorce has long lasting effects, especially when a divorcee remarries.
As sad as it sounds, I think many of us have refused to share the gospel with a neighbor since they have been divorced. We just don’t want to get into that aspect. “Oh, you were divorced 10 years ago before you became a Christian and knew the biblical teaching on divorce and remarriage?” After all God is no respector of persons. And yet somehow I think [hope] God’s grace would cover that.
We sit around ready to stone the adulterous woman. Jesus tells the woman to go and sin no more. And maybe that means those in unscriptural marrages should disolve that marriage. I’m not the one to make that judgment call.