The Commands of Christ - 17
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January 26, 2022 Wed
The Commands of Christ - 17
Finishing last week:
Colson Worldview Center (today): … an ever-growing majority of Americans seem to think marriage is just as outdated as a social institution as a horse and carriage are as a transportation technology. And this includes those who have historically championed marriage as essential to a healthy and flourishing society.
Overall, belief in the importance of marriage is at an all-time low. According to Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs poll, just 29% of Americans say it is “very important” for a couple who have children together to be legally married. That’s down from 49% in 2006.
Given that, during those intervening sixteen years, marriage was both legally redefined and constantly assaulted by advocates of so-called “alternative” family models, these numbers aren’t that surprising. Nor is it surprising that a strong majority of respondents now believe sex outside of marriage and having a baby outside of marriage is morally acceptable.
What is surprising is the dramatic shift in beliefs about marriage among those groups that have historically defended and championed the institution. Just 36% of self-identified Republicans now say marriage is “very important” for couples who have children together, compared with 62% in 2006. And, incredibly, only 41% of self-identified “conservatives” now agree with that statement, which is down 21 points since 2006.
The New Testament allows for 2 situations to lead to divorce: sexual infidelity (Matthew 5:32) and abandonment by an unbeliever (1 Corinthians 7:15). What about other situations like: physical, verbal, emotional abuse; financial irresponsibility; children in home of fighting parents; etc. ?
Divorce should not be the first response.
Abuse is NOT a Christian lifestyle — abusers who will not get (listen or apply) help to end being an abuser are therefore unbelievers.
Financial irresponsibility (gambling, drugs, spendthrift, etc.) are also not Christian behavior:
10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. 11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.
Sam Storms:
The Sermon on the Mount (2. When One Spouse Is a Christian, the Other an Unbeliever (vv. 12–16))
Response: a) Let’s ask the kids which one they prefer!
b) Is it really better for the kids? Certainly parental discord is damaging to children. But it can’t begin to compare with the destructive effects of the loss of a father or mother from the home through divorce.
c) To say it is better for the children if the parents divorce poses a false dilemma. It assumes there are only two options, either divorce or the status quo. Since the latter is considered intolerable and therefore unthinkable, divorce seems like the only way out. The third option of restoration of the relationship between husband and wife seems like a utopian dream that people with any degree of common sense would never consider.
d) This argument is blatantly hypocritical. They try to justify their decision to divorce based on their love for their kids. But if people really cared all that much about their children they would move mountains to do whatever necessary to heal the relationship. They’re not getting divorced because they love their kids. They’re divorcing because they selfishly love themselves. This is little more than an act of selfishness disguised as a noble act of self-sacrifice for the good of the children.
Open:
Why do people pay so little attention to their speech?
Words seem to be cheap in every area of our society, from politics, to the news media, to social media, to radio and TV, to interpersonal communications. We tend to say what makes us look best, avoids conflict, etc.
Dig:
Read Matthew 5:33-37
33 “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ 34 “But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 “Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.
1. How might the issue of oaths and vows be connected to the topic of marriage and divorce?
Vow are made when a couple gets married.
We are pledging making promises.
Our yes needs to be yes — or don’t say it.
2. The Pharisees had elaborate formulas for oaths, with some being binding and some not (see Matthew 23:16-22). Why is Jesus opposed to oaths?
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ 17 You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? 18 And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the offering that is on it is obligated.’ 19 You blind men, which is more important, the offering or the altar that sanctifies the offering? 20 Therefore, the one who swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. 21 And the one who swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells in it. 22 And the one who swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
Question 9. Matthew 5:33 is not an accurate quotation of any one law of Moses. At the same time, it is an accurate summary of several Old Testament precepts which require people who make vows to keep them. These include Exodus 20:7, Leviticus 19:12, Numbers 30:2 and Deut. 23:21.
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
12 ‘You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.
2 “If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
21 “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the Lord your God will surely require it of you. 22 “However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you. 23 “You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God, what you have promised.
The Pharisees got to work on these awkward prohibitions and tried to restrict them. They shifted people's attention away from the vow itself and the need to keep it to the formula used in making it.
Jesus teaches that a vow is binding irrespective of its accompanying formula. That being so, the real implication of the law is that we must keep our promises and be people of our word. Then vows become unnecessary.
3. Does this mean, for example, that we should refuse to give evidence under oath in a court of law? Explain.
Question 10. The Anabaptists took this line in the sixteenth century and most Quakers still do today. While admiring their desire not to compromise, one can still perhaps question whether their interpretation is not excessively literalistic. Jesus emphasized in his teaching that honest people do not need to resort to oaths; he did not say they should refuse to take an oath if required by some external authority to do so.
4. Why should oaths be unnecessary for Jesus' followers?
Question 11. Question 9 concerns the negative effects of oaths. This question covers why oaths aren't needed (even if there were no harmful aspects to them).
As Christians, our simple answers should carry all the weight needed to convince people that we are honest and reliable, that we will follow through on what we promise. People should be able to trust us because of our character rooted in Christ.
5. In what ways can we ask God to help us resist the pressures to compromise in marriage and in speech?
LifeGuide Topical Bible Studies - Sermon on the Mount.