Last week Rose and I went on a date for the first time in about 2 months. Yeah…2 months. Sure we’ve gone on walks, and spent some time talking on the couch, but we hadn’t gone out for dinner, coffee, or anything like that. I was humbled when I realized it had been that long.
Not everyone would agree with a missional model of local churches but everyone has to agree that Christ calls us to live a missional life. What I mean by that is we are called to fulfill The Great Commission and disciple as we are out in the world.
Churches today are thinking through how to be more missional in their approaches, but I have never heard someone talk about living their marriage missionally.
The typical marriage advice is to cultivate a strong marriage through communication and spending time together in the home.
It is well known that the divorce rate among Christians is just as high as any other people group in America.
I wonder what it would look like for people to look at their marriages in a missional way. What do I mean by that? I still remember when Dan Kimball said, “everything is mission//there is a heaven and there is a hell.” Everything is on the line. But we often separate our mission and our marriages.
What would it look like for Rose and I to live out our marriage in a way that helped others see the love of Christ? It would certainly take more love and care than 1 date every 2 months. And it would certainly involve us being out in the world instead of cultivating our marriage in our home only.
I used to think that my marriage of 2 years didn’t mean much to most people. We are still young and naive to the ways of the world. But I’ve changed my mind. I think the world is watching and they are judging Christianity on our marriages and we aren’t doing a very good job.
Everyone is looking to see if we practice forgiveness, love, and selflessness (and the list could go on) in our marriages. Even my short marriage of 2 years.
What I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about is how Christians can live their marriages out in the world. I think too many marriage counselours teach spouses to cultivate their marriage in the home. But where is our interaction with the world? Where is our spending time with other couples and singles looking for guidance and support?
What are some practical ways we can live missional marriages?
