Since the beginning of Christian marriages, the issue of divorce has been controversial. Yes - the Bible is against divorce. But should we worry about this too much and what is the biggest influence to our attitudes?
In this day and age, it could be argued that Hollywood and not the bible has dictated much of how marriage and divorce are viewed. Christians believe that people marry without much consideration for the long haul. In true Hollywood style, if the marriage doesn’t work out – sometimes after only a couple of months and in some cases weeks or even days – then an appointment with the nearest ‘quickie divorce’ lawyer will ensure that your carefully thought out marriage vows are expunged as quickly as last night’s supper.
Why do people marry and then seek a divorce – often in a matter of months? In Hollywood the self-seeking motive is the never-ending desire for attention and publicity. For us, every-day folk, we are just following the example of what passes as a role model in the modern world.
People no longer consider marriage as a lifetime or religious commitment, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer and so on. The bible doesn’t even feature in the process other than in the church service whilst getting married.
“God hates divorce” as quoted from Malachi 2:16, has been wrongfully interpreted to mean that divorce is not allowed AT ALL and is a sin. However, this is only half of the truth.
There are some marriages that are even more detestable to in the bible than divorce. Historically, women have been cast in the role of the subservient partner, subject to her husband’s whims and dominance and, even in this modern day and age, some women still live in miserable suppression to their husbands because of the historically erroneous teaching behind the Bible verse in Ephesians 5:22 which says: “Wives, submit to your own husbands”.
Some people never consider the following scripture, which says: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her” (verse 25).