| I get this question a lot from the inmates through Crossroads Bible Institute. We have to be very careful about how the questions get phrased. One fellow asked, "Why and when do church people encourage divorce?”
A variation is, 'when is divorced allowed?'
We may be answering questions that scripture does not explicitly answer but we can help someone to arrive at an answer. Here's my take:
God hates divorce, the church should hate divorce. The church should never encourage divorce or put it’s approval on it in any way. Jesus made no provision for divorce, neither did Paul and neither should the church. The reason is simple. Marriage is the picture of God’s unbreakable covenant with his church. If the marriage covenant before God is broken then it makes a mockery of the covenant that God has made with His people - ‘what God has joined together let no man separate.’
You will hear folks say that the bible allows for divorce in the case of adultery (or fornication) and abandonment. This is not true, the bible never allows for divorce, period. Divorce is never God’s revealed will. Now, having said that. It is very easy in our culture to get a divorce. Our society has mocked God’s commands at every corner. People get divorced. What do we do with a brother or sister who is the innocent party in a divorce? There is usually an innocent party. Can that person be an elder or serve in the church? Well scripture speaks to these matters. Can that person remarry? Scripture speaks to that question but there can be some different interpretations of the doctrines arrived at.
Bottom line is, divorce is not provided for in scripture but scripture helps us in where we should go if a divorce takes place.
If I'm off target here I would appreciate some pastoral direction. |