Christianity & Marriage

This is a great little essay a colleague shared on Facebook the other day.  It briefly summarizes the unique and counter-cultural nature of Christianity as it pertains to having children, getting married, or living life as a single person.  

Christianity is unique in that it posits a positive, engaging approach with the world around us while at the same time calling us to constant remembrance that this is transitory.  We make decisions about the world (our marital status, whether to have children or not) based on larger scale criteria than selfish personal interests, and in the understanding that our ultimate hope lies in a new creation.  This manifests itself in our family relationships without placing a stigma on decisions to remain single and celibate (the Bible places no such stigmas and actually affirms the celibate single life as a valid & God pleasing option.  Particular Christian communities have and may stigmatize the single life but they do so in error).  

Another example of the very other nature of Christianity compared not simply with non-theism but with other religious traditions as well.  It also highlights the constantly challenging nature of Biblical Christianity in regards to our assumptions about the world around us and the purpose and nature of our individual lives.  These challenges have some very tangible blessings in the world around us that extend beyond the personal spirituality that is sought to be enforced in policy and public opinion.  Faith is never a purely personal matter – it ripples out from us into the relationships around us, affecting our families, communities, and the world at large.