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Originally Posted by NearertoGod
Archippus, I didn't catch what you're looking for, exactly. Can you elaborate on it a little more?  |
As in the last bit of the post, just some other perspectives or verses that I might have missed. There might be some passages that deal with this in more detail; after all, I only referenced two, and I think that is an understatement of the importance of the topic.
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Originally Posted by Who am I
Paul always has good advice.
It is good to stay unmarried, if you do, you can focus much more of your attention towards God. If everyone stayed single starting today, in 100 years, there would be only a few very old people left with no one to take care of them.
When someone marries and has kids, they need to spend a lot of their time and attention towards their family and less attention towards God. I believe very few are called to stay single. And some of those people have burned with passion. They should have married and not got caught up in the sins they did.
So… I believe everyone should plan on getting married, unless you have a clear message from God to stay single.
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Like you said in the second sentence, isn't remaining single more conducive to serving God efficiently? It seems like your points contradict, though they all make sense individually. Do you mean the duty to elders in need of care would outweigh the spiritual advantages of staying single?
If staying single is thought of mainly in the context of serving God, would a call to serve God in general count as a call to stay single?
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Originally Posted by Rumely
Seems to me your youth pastor isn't properly taking context into account in this case, as you have noted.
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I should add that I had to paraphrase a lot about my youth pastor. The discussion was branching out in different directions, and that was just one point about which I was dubious. Some of the other teenagers also suggested that same verse, and probably others. I just don't remember all of the details.
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However, since MOST people seem to get married and have families, it is good for young people to give serious thought to their dating and relational practices in light of their potential future families. Marriage and family also provide an environment of growing and learning which teaches us about ourselves and, since marriage is a reflection of Christ and the Church, as Paul talked about in Galatians 5, it teaches us about our relationship with Him.
The bottom line is that whether one remains single or marries, he or she is to lead a life in that context that glorifies God. In either case, Paul says that one will do well. The single person can single-mindedly focus all his or her attention on ministering to others. The married individual focuses their time, energy, and resources into and through the marriage in their service to God. Neither marriage nor singleness should be used as a context for being selfishly indulgent. Honor God in whichever state you are, and you will be blessed.
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Good points. The main focus in the Bible study discussion might have been on what is best for the church, not necessarily according to Paul's advice. I know some churches stress large families more in an attempt to grow fast.
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Originally Posted by Rumely
WhoAmI reminded me of another point. Why should all the non-Christians have all the kids? If we don't marry and contribute our "fair share", we might find ourselves being "squeezed out" of the earth.
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Statistically I think Christians have more children per capita, but I don't know where I might have seen those figures.
As for being "squeezed out," it could be a better approach to not have as many children but focus our energies on converting adults. One child takes years and a lot of money to bring up, while you can convert a great number of people using the same time and resources. In turn, the converted adults would not bring up their own children as nonbelievers, so the increase would be exponential.