Single as a gift?

• by: Brad Brogden 10/05/09

Singleness is a gift.  That's what Paul teaches in 1st Corinthians 7:6-8. 

"Now as a concession, not a command, I say this.  I wish that all were as I myself am.  But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.  To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am."

Paul's goal here is not for everyone to stay single, but for those who are single to be content in the gifting that God has placed on them in their current status, not longing for marriage as a means of completion.  The idea is that those who are single be satisfied in the Lord alone and driven by the Spirit to do the will of God wholeheartedly, able to devote all their energy and resources toward the Kingdom.

The problem with today's culture of single Christians is that the List by which our lives our dictated very rarely has Jesus at the top, much less in the top 5.  Paul would be appalled if he were alive today and saw the way in which many single Christians live their lives for themselves.  Being single can be a life of extremes.  By that I mean that it is easy to be extremely selfish because there are no kids or spouse to be responsible for and take care of and serve, so essentially a single person can do whatever they want, whenever they want.  I find that is a temptation that is easy to fall into, even while masking it with various activities of service to appear to be sacrificial in lifestyle.  I know that I, as a single man, am selfish with my time often, and probably many times without realizing it.

What would the Journey Church, and all Bible believing churches, look like if the single people began to take the time that God has blessed us with, the resources He has given us and the lack of responsibility to support a family and used that to enhance the Gospel effectiveness of the church?  What if instead of buying new toy after new toy and sitting around for hours on the weekends, the unmarried of the church proactively sought out ways to serve the husbands and wives and children of the Journey?  What if we gave our lives to our church and community with the same devotion and determination we would give to our spouse and children if we had them?  What would it look like if Jesus was really the most important thing in the universe to us?  I know there are those who are making efforts to do that now, but what would happen if that type of lifestyle exploded from the single people of the church?  Just look at Paul, he wrote half the New Testament and took the Gospel all over the place with no regard for his own life because he knew exactly who He was living for.  It wasn't for his future wife, it was for Jesus.  If we would stop living for our future families and start living for Christ now, those future families would be much better for it, if God wills that we have them.