Priorities

"There are only two women in the world: my wife and everyone else. I did not make vows to everyone else." ~ Dr. Bruce Lowe

The other day I was in a professor's office with a couple of other students. We were debriefing from our internships and talking about ministry and the future. One of the things my professor, Dr. Bruce Lowe, wanted to stress to each of us was the importance and priority of our wives. He wanted to make sure our wives came first... always. He said the above and I think he is absolutely right. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen pastors, missionaries, seminary professors, etc. sacrifice their relationship with their wives on the altar of ministry. When challenged on it they might say something like, "I am doing God's work." True, you may be, but if you are putting your call to be a pastor before your call to be a husband, you have your priorities out of order.

When Paul quoted from Genesis 2:24 in Ephesians 5:22-32 (the most famous words about marriage in the Bible), he was making an incredibly radical statement to the first century Christians: your wife is more important than any other earthly relationship in your life. There is no other relationship where the two cleave together and become one flesh, none. Often this passage is pointed to when one is discussing roles in marriage, and it has much to tell us about that, but, role arguments aside, I would like to point out that about two-thirds of these verses are about what the husband does for the wife and they show (for both of them) a commitment which supersedes any other earthly commitment. I would also like to point out that it tells us the Church is the bride of Christ, not the bride of a pastor, missionary, or seminary professor. She has one husband, one Savior, one Head, and His name is Jesus Christ.

By His Grace,
Taylor