Being Single

Three vignettes from Scripture

While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my
brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” —Matthew 12: 46-50

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” —John 19: 25-27

Challenges for the Church:

Analyze the content of what we preach, teach, distribute and promote
about relationships.

“Not only are long-term single Christians unable to be sanctified in the same way as their married counterparts … protracted singleness rarely glorifies God.” —Debie Maken:

“Satan dishonors marriage by fooling us into believing that singleness is ok.” —Debie Maken:

“…If you want to become more like Jesus, I can’t imagine any better thing to do that get married … marriage is the preferred route to becoming more like him.” —Gary Thomas

“The most devastating attack on marriage today is coming from singleness… it’s an assault on marriage.” —John MacArthur

“In modern Western culture, we are primed to think of friendship as a nice-to-have, while sexual and romantic love and parent-child love are vital to our thriving. But Jesus flips this script. Instead of telling His disciples that they must get married and have children, Jesus tells His followers that they must love each other, even to the point of death. When Jesus said there was no greater love than laying down one’s life for one’s friends, He wasn’t being hyperbolic or naïve. Instead, He was inscribing the good news of His unfathomable love for us onto Christian friendship with indelible ink.” —Rebecca McLaughlin

Notice what gets celebrated and talked about at church.

Initiate conversations with people who are single or single again.

Exhortations for singles:

Reject feeling “less than” and embrace the truth of who you are in Christ!
Keep life in perspective: it’s really short.
Be fruitful and multiply!