Last week I posted an article entitled: ‘The Shadow of Sex & Marriage, The Future of My Marriage, & A New Reality‘. There was a lot of buzz leading up to that article for a variety of reasons. A few folks told me that I should have went into marketing:)
To be completely honest, I was expecting a lot of misunderstanding in regards to last week’s post. I assumed that my words would be twisted and misconstrued to say something that I was clearly not saying. To my knowledge, this has not occurred. The response to last week’s article has been overwhelmingly positive. There has been one criticism of last week’s post, however, that I would like to address.
Why All The Hype
I have heard from several people that told me they fully agreed with what I shared, but they couldn’t understand why there was so much ‘hype’ surrounding the post. They told me what I shared was pretty straight forward from scripture. They were not sure why anyone would object.
While I appreciate their encouragement, the more that I thought about it, the more I realized something was getting lost in translation. We humans have a tendency to read things (including scripture) through the lens of our own experience and preconceived belief systems.
Some (not all) people who read and agreed with last week’s post made a partial assumption about what I was communicating. They assumed I was speaking about a future heavenly age in which marriage would be transcended for a higher love altogether. They correctly understood that, in this future age, the way we will relate to one another will be quite different.
While that is exactly what I was saying, that is certainly NOT all that I was saying. The most controversial part of the article was the assertion that the future heavenly age that I described has broken into the present!
I truly wish this was more widely grasped and accepted, but unfortunately, it is not. Most everything emphasized in evangelical culture regarding marriage & relationships is still rooted in Old Covenant thinking, not New.
Seeing and relating to others ‘In Christ’ is to see and relate with others from an entirely different realm that transcends the fleshly distinctions of gender, race, economic status, etc…(Gal. 3:28). Truly knowing this will radically affect the way we relate to one another. Understanding that the marriage relationship is only temporary, not eternal, will allow our identities to shift from the temporary to the eternal. While this can seem unnerving at first, it is actually glorious.
When our identities shift from the temporary to the eternal, the relational hierarchical walls that have naturally existed that keep us separated from one another will disappear. The tremendous love of God for His people is a tangible reality, not an abstract concept. This tangible love breaks into real space and time through our brothers and sisters through relationship and interaction. This is essential to life in Christ among a group of people. The New Testament ekklesia (church) is literally a picture of a future age breaking into the present.
Groups of people who live by Christ’s divine indwelling life from a future heavenly realm are rare. They might be the rarest entity on the earth. This is why I know what I communicated in last week’s article is not widely grasped and accepted. I hope that makes sense.
A Face Lift
On another note, you may have noticed that this blog has received a bit of a face life. There have been some small design and functional changes made to the site. Have you noticed? I’d like to invite you to take a look at the site and notice some of the new features added and design changes made. I’d value your honest feedback about the site. Please feel free to share what you liked, what you didn’t like, and suggestions that you may have to make the site better. Your insight is valuable.
Love,
Jamal Jivanjee
I’m giving you a new nickname: Martin Luther
you ‘protest’ant
good one Michael!
Yes, it makes sense. Christian radio stations offer a variety of “teachers” whose Old Covenant instruction on marriage, family, money and holiness sound “good” and “scriptural” but miss the mark entirely when it comes to explaining where Christ fits into their picture. If doing life “according to scripture” is God’s plan, why is the divorce rate so high among Christians? The culture of evangelicalism draws from Old Testament “precepts” in order to “illuminate” marriage, family and gender roles as if one’s faithful adherence to a set of “rules” can ensure God’s blessing. But, for those who are in Christ, the blessing over relationships is already ensured with the in-breaking of the Kingdom! Old Testament “dos and don’ts”, “authority” and “submission” paradigms can’t compare with the relational superiority of New Covenant LIFE lived out in ALL our relationships. Evangelicals have done a good job of drawing from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in constructing an “ideal” for marriage and family that doesn’t work in real life because the “main thing” (Christ’s indwelling life) has been ignored. Knowing one’s identity in Christ and asking God to give us an eternal (New Covenant) perspective changes the game entirely.
Preach it sista;)
To know something and to live and embody it, are potentially two different things. I heard a Christian radio person last week say, “I vollentered at a homeless shelter this weekend and I think if you can just make someone smile, that’s what it’s all about.” Really? That’s what it’s all about? I believe strongly that most Christians are just saved and can’t even comprehend yet the meaning of Ephesians 4:13: until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. What you spoke was to the “whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” The reason the institution does not go here, is, if they did those who would comprehend, would leave. Thank-you again brother!
There is a clear and evident reason for the divisive and deceptive illusion that humans have enacted in all the ages, and doing so as though the whole world is a staged and fantasy land, and I’ll not go into that here. What IS the was? What IS the is? What IS the is coming? The Christ, God’s Son. And so, let us not be out-of-focus by looking to the side, instead of to The Point. There is a vital and absolute apprehension that we must take hold of and firmly grasp and never let go, and I am speaking of The I AM! Prior to the founding of the universe, Christ is the Lamb slain. Time is created by, through, in and for Christ, the Beloved One. Thus, all the ages that is time are the happenings of the fulfillment of All that Is in Christ before the first vibration of the universe. All that already was and All that already is and All that already will be — Christ Is!
Very well said Kat, thank you:)
I would need to see this higher reality lived out to see if its unique in any way. Evangelical culture is just one segment of christianity so thats possibly why what you’ve said wasn’t that controversial. I would say even many unbelievers are better able to see their partner as an individual rather than just filtered through rigid ideas of what a husband/wife/man/female is. We can learn from people who haven’t been shackled by religious jargon when looking into these matters… we may find they have been ‘listening’ to christ more than we have.
Jamal, You have illustrated one of the most important concepts of the New Testament. Every human institution and aspect of human life is designed to point to the ultimate model in God Himself via the Trinity. In the Trinity you have everything: submission, authority, intimacy, relationships, community, etc. Things like marriage, family, friendships, government, work all are wonderful things that are intended to illustrate for us the way in which the Trinity functions, but these things have become tainted in this sin cursed world. But when Jesus broke into the world, he came to draw us to that heavenly reality, not just in the future heaven, but in the here and now, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
Thanks for reading and sharing George:)
How does this work out in a day-to-day, practical sense? Can married men and women have close friendships with members of the opposite sex, for example? In what sense is the marriage relationship still important, and still to be guarded as something set apart, for as long as we still have a leg in this present age?
Not trying to be combative here; just trying to tease out the implications. Perhaps one of the reasons people had the misunderstanding of your original post is that the “what it means for us today” hasn’t been spelled out very clearly yet.
I can recall way back in the 80′s when I was questioning my marriage and I pondered on what Jesus told those who asked “whose wife will she be” in Heaven? His answer was meant to be thought of here and now, I haven’t heard any discussion on it since then and certainly have seen no show of what that would look like in this life. Your topic and comments from others helps in our understanding as to what the Lord is saying concerning marriage. thank you