From God's Word, Piper made four points about the blessedness of singleness. I have heard these sermons before, and I always walked away thinking Yeah, but being married and having a family would still be better than being single...
Piper began with a text from Isaiah. You know, I really cannot do the message justice, you will have to listen to it yourself. However, the main point was that most people have a warped paradigm of singleness and marriage. Marriage is not the answer to the "problem" of being single.
Perhaps this message struck home with me because I have been reading "Every Woman's Battle," which makes it clear that marriage is not the end-all of problems. Certainly, marriage has its advantages (as does singleness), but it also has problems of its own. It is difficult. It takes hard work and effort.
So, with my romantic view of marriage removed, I heard Piper's sermon with new ears. In the Old Testament, God's covenant was passed down through physical relation. Therefore, having a family and children was of the utmost importance. If procreation did not take place, a family name would die. BUT NOW, the new covenant is not passed along through physical birth, but spiritual. All believers are called to be spiritual "mothers" and "fathers," bringing others to Christ. The main goal is no longer to have physical families, but to have eternal, spiritual families.
If you begin with that eternal view, what then holds more importance: pouring your effort into a spiritual family, or pouring your energy into a physical family? Physical and marital relationships are temporary. Seeking after Christ and leading others to Him lasts for eternity.
Now I finally understand Paul's exhortation that he would have all men as himself (single), because the married man cares, not for the things of God, but for the things of the world--i.e. his wife's needs. I'm not sure why, but that makes a lot of sense now.
Am I saying I have been given the gift of singleness? ... (or that I now want that gift)...Not really. I mean, yes, I am single, but tonight the main point is that my focus has been redirected towards that which is most important: bringing souls to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Our culture prioritizes getting married (or at least co-habitating) and having a family, but those things are only an image of Christ and His bride. Putting marriage as my goal is like saying, what I really want is a nice picture frame with a photo of Jesus and His bride. Whereas, I could be pursuing the reality that the photo points to: an intimate relationship with Christ.
I'm not sure this all makes sense, but somehow it does to me. I'm still learning.
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