Christian Living

Christians And Divorce

by John Clark 
01/18/21
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     What comes to mind when divorce is mentioned among Christians? Couples need to do whatever is necessary within their control to make a great marriage, but the reality is that sometimes it just doesn’t work out. Are there times when divorce is the only option?

     Some church denominations today “act as if divorce is the unpardonable sin, too great a sin for the blood of Jesus to cover” says Dr. Myles Munroe. I know of one religious group that views those who are divorcd as being an outcast by the family. This way of thinking is neither compassionate nor biblical. 

     In Matthew 19:3-9 some religious leaders asked Jesus, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause at all?” Jesus answered, “What God has joined let no man separate.” He was then asked, “Why then did Moses command the wife to be given a Certificate of Divorce?” Jesus replied that it was because of a “hardness of heart.” He then added, “whoever divorces his wife except for immorality, and marries another woman, commits adultery.”

     If Jesus was so against divorce then what was the Certificate of Divorce justified by a hardness of the heart? Munroe says that Moses was dealing with how “to protect the helpless wife when her husband walked out on her.” He points out that the Greek word for divorce means “a defection” or “standing off from.” 

     A Bill of Divorce also made it possible for the wife to remarry and have a means of support. In the time of Moses if she went back to her family she was disgraced and treated like a slave. 

     Hardness of heart is defined by the Holman Bible Dictionary as “a stubborn attitude that leads a person to reject God’s will.” In the case of marriage, pastor and author Bobby Schuller, states that it includes destructive sexual behavior, abuse, or abandonment. He says in the case of abandonment, the wife has “every right to get a divorce.”

     As much as God hates divorce, He knows that two imperfect sinful people can fall far short of his will for marriage. He has compassion on divorcees as revealed with the woman caught in adultery in John 8:3-12, and with the woman at the well in John 4. He did not judge them. We need to have compassion on people who are the victims of failed marriages, especially single mothers.

     I know of one religious group that considers a divorcee an outcast in their family, or says that he or she should never get remarried. Do people who believe this way actually think it is okay for a divorcee to stay single the rest of their lives and never be able to enjoy a happy relationship again? This is especially true of those who have been a victim of domestic violence, abuse, or abandonment.

     God does not hold our past against us. Neither should anyone allow another to be forever a victim of their past!