Calling Sin Sin

There is no end of voices standing out front pointing to homosexual behavior as a sin. Some are cruel and unkind about it. Some are not. But it is unavoidable to realize that many in the Church are speaking loudly against that particular sin. Then there's abortion. There are actual organizations formed by Christians to try to turn back the clock and rescind the law that legalized the murder of vast numbers of unborn children in this country. Murder is wrong. They are shouting it loudly. No one is unclear on that, either. Other conservative groups are complaining about condoms in schools and calling for abstinence teaching rather than "safe sex" teaching in schools because sex outside of marriage, you see, is a sin. That is, whether or not you agree with any of these claims, it is quite clear that voices in the Christian community are calling against these things as sin and asking for change.

Funny thing. There is one very big problem our society faces about which Christians are almost completely silent. There don't seem to be any voices crying in the wilderness, let alone on Main Street. No one is calling for changes to the laws or beating their chests protesting the sin and its damage to our people. Also, oddly enough, it is a sin about which most of us are in agreement. I use the word "most" there to be generous, because I don't know of and have never heard of anyone who actually disagrees. I just wanted to allow for the possibility.

This particular sin about which people are almost entirely silent has devastating effects on people and society. No one doubts it for a moment. It causes the loss of friends, produces guilt (both in those who do the sin and those who surround it), causes loss of identity, loneliness, loss of security, anxiety, fear, sleeplessness, dislocation, worry, withdrawal, financial damage ... oh, the list keeps going and going. Adults are injured, to be sure, but the common wisdom is that the most damaged by this sin are the children. Author Pat Conroy said of this particular sin that each time is "the death of a small civilization."

According to WABC, "New York is the only state in the union that doesn't allow a 'no fault' divorce, but that may soon change." It seems that on Tuesday, June 15, "the New York State Senate vote[d] 32 to 27 giving New York no-fault divorce." If this goes into law, then, the United States will be entirely under a "no-fault" divorce system.

What does the Bible have to say about it? "Wait!" you stop me. "The Bible doesn't have anything to say about 'no-fault' divorce. What nonsense!" Now, now, let's see.

And Pharisees came up to Him and tested Him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?" (Matt 19:3).

Now, be careful. You may try to reword that question. "Is there any cause for which it is lawful to divorce one's?" That wasn't the question. The debate was between two schools of thought on the subject. One said that divorce for any reason whatsoever was perfectly acceptable and the other was that it could only be for reasons of "uncleanness". (Remember, divorce in biblical times was never for adultery. That was a capital offense. If your spouse cheated on you, you didn't get a divorce; you got widowed.) So what was the question? "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?" The question, essentially, is about no-fault divorce. Do you really need a reason to get a divorce, or can you get divorced for any reason at all?

Jesus's reply was, in fact, shocking. So shocking was His reply that His disciples responded, "If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry." What answer did He give that caused such a reaction?

Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate (Matt 19:4-6).

His answer? No! There is no reason for divorce. Not "no-fault" -- no reason. His answer to their straightforward question was a straightforward reply: "What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."

"Ah!" you quickly say, "What about His famous 'exception clause'? What about the next line? Don't leave that out." No, we don't want to leave that out. I just wish to point out that the question was asked and answered. I'll actually leave the next line for another time or even for others to examine, because this was the point that I want to get at. Jesus's opinion of divorce is "never".

I said that we all agree about this sin. Of course, that will also receive an objection. But no one (no one in their right minds, no one that I've ever heard of) starts a marriage with the aim of divorce. No one enters into a "lifelong commitment" with the expectation of terminating it. One of the reasons marriage is on the decline is that young people bemoan the fact that so many marriages end up in divorce. They see that as "bad". We all agree that divorce is bad. So here's my question: Why are we so silent on it? Why are we pounding our fists against homosexual behavior and abortion and sexual immorality but giving this very clear sin of divorce the silent treatment? Why, when someone does put their hand up and say, "Ahem ... is it possible that divorce is a sin?", they get shouted down by the secular and by Christians? These things, brethren, ought not be.