Marriage: Blacks Need Not Apply

That was essentially the message sent by First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs, Mississippi to a black couple desiring to get married in their facility about two weeks ago.  Read the story here.  You would think that our culture had moved beyond racism by now.  You would especially think that our churches had moved beyond racism, but sadly even some within our churches are still filled with prejudice.

In this particular case, Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson were forced to move their wedding to an alternate location just one day prior to their wedding.  Why?  According to the pastor, "a black wedding had never been done here before, so it was setting a new precedent, and there were those who reacted because of that."  How many people reacted?  There were five or six church members who objected to the wedding.  A pretty small but vocal minority, considering they threatened to vote the pastor out of the church if he proceeding with the wedding.

It's easy for me to sit here and say what I would have done as pastor.  I hope I would've said, "Then you'll just have to take your vote and run me off because there's no way I'm going to allow an ungodly bunch of racists to distract me from doing God's will."  My heart genuinely goes out to this pastor because those kinds of stands are easier said than done.  I don't know his personal situation, but perhaps he's trying to support a wife and children just like I am.  

The biggest thing I've taken from this ugly episode is that I need to be willing to stand for God's truth - no matter what the cost.  I hope all pastors will learn the same lesson as well.  God has not called us to do what is convenient.  He's called us to do what is right.  The fact is that God knows exactly where we are and precisely what we need.  If we lose something as a result of standing for Him, that doesn't change the fact He's promised to provide all our needs.  "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33).

I hope our church members will also learn some lessons from this.  The first one is obvious - there is no place for racism within the Body of Christ.  The Scripture says that "God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34). When Peter was tempted to withhold the Gospel from a Gentile (non-Jewish) man, God showed him that His love and salvation are for everyone - regardless of their skin color.  When we allow hate and prejudice to fill our hearts, it is proof that we are either extremely backslidden or that we were never children of God to begin with.

I also hope that our church members will learn that it's never right to sit by and allow the carnally-minded to dictate the direction of our churches.  As pastor, far too often I have watched as a silent majority have allowed a vocal (and usually ungodly) minority to run the show.  I don't think the silent majority intends to harm the church, but that's exactly what they do when they choose to remain silent.  My guess is that the pastor of First Baptist would've been much more likely to take a stand had he felt that people were going to "have his back."

If your pastor is a man of God who loves the Word and preaches its truth, by all means support him and stand with him against those who would seek to do harm to the cause of Christ.  That may go against the "go along to get along" mentality that we've sometimes grown accustomed to, but who are we trying to please?  "Do I now persuade men or God?  Or do I seek to please men?  For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ" (Gal. 1:10).  When it's time to stand, I pray we'll all be found pleasing to Christ.

A New Hotel with a Permanent Check-Out

First it was drive-thru weddings.  Now it's divorce hotels.  That's right folks - you and your beloved can check-in married on Friday and check-out divorced on Sunday.  You can find the story at this link.  As if our culture had not already trivialized marriage enough, we've now made divorce more convenient than it's ever been.  And we wonder why our world is in the shape it's in.

Rather than talking about the tragedy of these divorce hotels any further, I'd rather use this as an opportunity to share what God's Word has to say about marriage.  The foundation for marriage is found in Genesis 2:24 - "A man shall leave his father and mother, be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."  God's plan is that a man and woman should join their lives unto one another "until death do us part."

Why is that?  First, because God has made it very clear that divorce is not His plan.  In fact, the Bible says  "He hates divorce" (Mal. 2:16).  Of course, that's not to say that God hates divorced people.  He loves every man, woman, and child in this world.  But God hates divorce because "it covers one's garment with violence" (Mal. 2:16) and it often has very negative consequences for the children affected by it (Mal. 2:15).

Furthermore, Jesus very clearly preached against divorce.  After quoting Gen. 2:24 in one of His sermons, Jesus said, "What God has joined together, let not man separate" (Matt. 19:6).  I'm convinced the reason divorce runs rampant is because we think marriage is something we've created.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Marriage always has and always will be the creation of God.

Some of you are probably asking, "Is it ever permissible for a man to divorce his wife, or vice versa?"  The Bible provides only two grounds for divorce - adultery (Matt. 5:32, 19:9) and abandonment (1 Cor. 7:15).  But even in those cases, God desires that we do all we can to salvage and strengthen our marriages, for "God has called us to peace" (1 Cor. 7:15).

How many divorces are really the product of adultery or abandonment, and how many come as a result of "irreconcilable differences?"  Let's face it - most couples choose to divorce simply because they're no longer willing to honor the vows they took before God and witnesses on their wedding day.  By the way, what did we say when we got married?  Probably something like this:  I take you to be my spouse, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.


Before you and your spouse check-in to a divorce hotel, think about those last words.  Marriage is not always easy, but if we love God and our spouses we'll honor our vows "until death do us part."  Let's start a marriage revolution and put the divorce hotels out of business!

Has Magic Mike Cast His Spell on the Church?

$73 million.  That's the amount of money Magic Mike has generated following its 6/29 release less than two weeks ago.  Over half that amount ($40 million) was collected during the movie's opening weekend.  I imagine the movie's creators have must have a big smile on their faces right now.  The movie's total production budget was only $7 million.  Oh yeah - they're laughing all the way to the bank.

It's not surprising that a movie about a male stripper and his friends would do so well in our culture.  After all, the Bible says that "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19).  One of Satan's best weapons is sexual perversion/lust, or as the Apostle John called it "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16).

What is somewhat surprising to me is that many professing Christians have lined movie box offices in search of their own Magic Mike ticket.  It's as if his spell has been cast over members of our churches.  I've even heard stories of some of the "church ladies" planning a girl's night out to go see Mr. Mike.  Is that a little unusual?  Magic Mike on Saturday night with the girls, worship on Sunday morning with the family?  Something's not right with this picture.

I anticipate there might be some Christian objectors out there, though I doubt they'd be willing to admit their objections.  They might say, "I just like Channing Tatum.  I think he's a wonderful actor."  Isn't that like the guy who says he only goes to Hooters for the wings.  Give me a break!  Guys don't go to Hooters for the wings, and girls don't go to Magic Mike to watch Tatum's amazing acting prowess.

There's one main reason guys go to Hooters and girls go to Magic Mike.  Lust - plain and simple.  We would expect rampant lust in the world, but God has called His children to a higher standard.  "The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness" (Matt. 6:22-23).  It's for good reason that God has commanded us to set our minds "on things above" (Col. 3:2).

One of my great concerns for Christians is that going to see a movie like Magic Mike could be a first step towards unfaithfulness to a spouse.  Satan has already wrecked enough of our homes.  We don't need to provide him with more opportunities to tear others apart.  You might say, "I'm not married.  That doesn't affect me."  Think again.  Jesus said "whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matt. 5:28).  That applies to men and women.

There's nothing wrong with a few ladies from the church getting together for a night out on the town.  But as you make your plans, consider this:  Would Jesus feel comfortable with where you're going and what you're doing?  If not, it's time for a change of plans.