On Tuesday, Pat Robertson (TV’s host of the 700 Club) shocked a lot of us with his comments about the justification for a man divorcing his wife if she develops full-blown Alzheimer’s disease. Robertson reasoned that since she is ‘no longer there,’ and as good as dead, the marriage covenant is no longer in force. I have not taken Robertson seriously for a long time. His theology, if one could call it that, appears to be formed ad hoc, without any anchor in the Truth of Scripture, more for the appeal to the audience than from a commitment to Christ’s truth. But since so many still think he’s some kind of prophet, I felt the need to address his foolishness.
Marriage is a living lesson in Christianity. The Bible says that it is the foundational way we learn about God’s total commitment to us and His desire for our unwavering love for Him. There is no way that anyone who understands the covenantal basis of marriage (an agreement between God, husband, and wife) can accept the utilitarian idea of ‘loving until your mind fades with age.’ In an editorial in Christianity Today, Russell Moore writes: “It's easy to teach couples to put the "spark" back in their marriages, to put the "sizzle" back in their sex lives. You can still worship the self and want all that. But that's not what love is. Love is fidelity with a cross on your back. Love is drowning in your own blood. Love is screaming, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me." God didn’t love me when I was attractive to him. He loved me when I was ignoring Him, caught up in my Self, thinking that I was ‘it.’ He died for me when I cared nothing for Him. And, He calls me to love others, including my wife, in the same way. He says that that kind of love, which His Spirit makes possible, tells the world that His Gospel is real and true. So, if Bev someday is afflicted with the dementia of Alzheimer’s Disease, if she is afraid of me because she no longer knows who I am, if she is ‘no longer there,’ I will still love her. That’s no romantic proclamation. It’s way, way deeper. I will do it, God helping me, for the glory of my Savior.
That kind of Christianity just isn’t all that popular in our Self-serving culture. Robertson finds a ready audience because so many American Christians practice a kind of ‘discipleship’ (and I use the word loosely) that is more of a hobby for those weekends when nothing else is on the calendar. It basically boils down to going to church, and then only if the program is ‘relevant,’ the music entertaining, and the preacher not too heavy – you know – more like an after dinner motivational speaker. He should say some things that cause vague discomfort so it seems that he is being ‘prophetic,’ but he should know when to back away from anything that might stick around long enough to make a person reflective over Sunday dinner! God is not allowed to make a prior claim on our time, our affections, our kids, or our money. And therefore, He is not really God at all. He is just a god of convenience.
Here’s the Truth. I hope it is comforting and challenging for each one of us.
“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery." (Matthew 5:31-32, NIV)
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24, NIV)
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