Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Divorce: an Addendum

I feel the need to further explain my answer to the question: what about divorce in abusive relationships?

I mentioned the need for Christians to celebrate, but I don't think I focused my aim in this answer. We do not need to celebrate divorce itself, as divorce is a tearing apart. Divorce comes with painful consequences. However, I felt that the nature of the question, as well as the common reaction to divorce in the Evangelical church, warrants a redirection of emphasis. I find that reactions to divorce (especially from Evangelicals) can center on mistakes made prior to marriage and the divorce itself. Of course, nobody should celebrate bad decisions made in the past, nor should they forget them. Divorce itself takes a toll on the couple, aside from any prior pain experienced in the relationship. For this reason, I concluded my answer by urging young people to be extremely cautious in entering covenant with a person; women especially, as women tend to have extra societal pressure to marry for the sake of marriage. The consequences of marriage, both positive and negative, are amplified by the serious nature of its covenant, and thus, one must make the decision with magnified discretion.

However, I intended to redirect focus to celebration, because I feel that the road to recovery from fleeing an abusive relationship mirrors our experience with the gospel. We do not celebrate the divorce, but we celebrate that God has freed someone to recover. Following this new direction, the divorcee will experience pain and struggle learning to love and trust, and the Church should be present to embrace, heal and support. We can also teach. Lessons can be learned. However, instead of focusing our attention on the death of a relationship, I feel it is closer to our nature to celebrate the return of a brother or sister's life, as this reflects the gospel. I hope this clears up my point. If not, please let me know!

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