Loving our wives

Russell Moore wrote a great essay today, Christ, the Church, and Pat Robertson that was tragically made necessary because of yet another crazy statement from Pat Robertson, this time saying that a man should feel free to divorce his wife to marry another if his current wife is suffering from Alzheimer and "no longer there".

Pat Robertson’s cruel marriage statement is no anomaly. He and his cohorts have given us for years a prosperity gospel with more in common with an Asherah pole than a cross. They have given us a politicized Christianity that uses churches to “mobilize” voters rather than to stand prophetically outside the power structures as a witness for the gospel.

But Jesus didn’t die for a Christian Coalition; he died for a church. And the church, across the ages, isn’t significant because of her size or influence. She is weak, helpless, and spattered in blood. He is faithful to us anyway.

If our churches are to survive, we must repudiate this Canaanite mammonocracy that so often speaks for us. But, beyond that, we must train up a new generation to see the gospel embedded in fidelity, a fidelity that is cruciform.

Virtually every time Pat Robertson opens his mouth, claiming to speak as a Christian, he makes a fool of himself and shames the Gospel to the unbelieving world that is laughing at him. I especially appreciated this line, that Christians are to "stand prophetically outside the power structures as a witness for the gospel". What a great statement. The church has no use for power or acclaim or status. When we try to mirror the way the world operates, our witness suffers. We have seen this again and again as the church has sought to take hold of the sword, to claim earthly crowns, to build new and improved temples and to gather and consolidate power.

The world may agree with Pat Robertson although even many unbelievers know that what he is suggesting is just wrong and runs contrary to our deepest held moral convictions. If we are to reflect Christ in our marriages as a Gospel witness to the world we must keep in the front of our mind the love shown by Christ for His Bride in spite of the uselessness and unfaithfulness of those He chose and called to Himself.

Dr. Moore's essay is both a wonderful word and a tragic necessity.