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

Church II

I have come with one purpose
To capture for myself a bride 
By my life she is lovely 
By my death she’s justified 

I have always been her husband 
Though many lovers she has known 
So with water I will wash her 
And by my word alone 

So when you hear the sound of the water 
You will know you’re not alone 

Chorus:
‘Cause I haven’t come for only you
But for my people to pursue
You cannot care for me with no regard for her
If you love me you will love the Church

I have long pursued her 
As a harlot and a whore 
But she will feast upon me 
She will drink and thirst no more 

So when you taste my flesh and my blood 
You will know you’re not alone 

Chorus:
There is none that can replace her 
Though there are many who will try 
And though some may be her bridesmaids 
They can never be my bride

This song is by Derek Webb. He is a member of Caedmon's Call and also does side projects on his own. Caedmon's Call is one of my favorite bands and his solo stuff is also very good. I love the lyrics to his songs (and Caedmon's Call's songs) because they are so rich and have so many poetic allusions to biblical stories and/or doctrine. This one in particular I really like because of the bridge lyrics:

   So when you hear the sound of the water 

   You will know you’re not alone 

   ...

   So when you taste my flesh and my blood 

   You will know you’re not alone 

Seeing baptism and taking the Eucharist, among many other spiritual signs and symbols they represent, reminds me of the greater covenant community that Christians are a part of. The Eucharist is a covenant meal, which is an act of covenantal ratification much like the meal shared by the elders of Israel before God in Exodus 24. It proclaims Christ, seals the benefits of union to Christ in believers, spiritually nourishes the believer, and pledges the believer’s fidelity to Christ and His body. (I wrote a paper called "Covenant-Renewing Worship" that speaks some about this.) Baptism is a covenant sign that brings the children of believers, or new believers, into the covenant community so when you "hear" the water you know that you are not alone. 

Last week at church we had two baptisms: the baby of a member couple of the church and a believer's baptism of a young woman who had grown up Muslim (nominal Muslim, but Muslim none-the-less). Seeing both of those really encouraged me. When the baby was baptized I thought, "This is a lucky child because he will grow up in a covenant family that will love and support him." When the believer was baptized I thought, "She is now one of my own." I do not know her personally but she is now a professed Christian and part of the covenant community of the Church and just knowing that another has been brought into the Kingdom is encouraging. They were both encouraging because, like the song says, seeing them reminded me that I am not alone. Like John Wesley says, "Everyone who belongs to Jesus belongs to everyone who belongs to Jesus" (whether we like it or not). 

By His Grace,
Taylor