Proclaimer Blog
Marriage & Ministry: an introduction
Monday and Tuesday of this week, Mrs R and I are being joined by 11 couples escaping just for 24 hours to think and pray about marriage and ministry. Wallace and Lindsay Benn are doing the same thing with a different set of couples. Do pray for us all, please.
Our desire to see preaching flourish means this is an important investment for us, as we desire to see the marriages of those preachers who are married flourish. Mrs R and I have been thinking this through a lot, so for one week (and a day) only, here are some very brief thoughts. You won’t necessarily agree with everything, but our prayer is that our thoughts may stimulate some thinking of your own.
This is something that every married ministry couple should be doing on a regular basis. We meet lots of ministries which are undermined by ungodly (let’s call a spade a spade) marriage; and lots of marriages which are put at risk by ungodly models of ministry. It’s frightening. And there are, of course, the high profile failures. However, the reality is that even situations which don’t end in failure, but in which either marriage or ministry is being carried out in an ungodly way, are situations which we must not and cannot tolerate.
Moreover, this is something to which couples need to return again and again. Seasons of life change rapidly. Having had a house full of daughters and various hangers on, we’re now, effectively, parents of an only child. We always have to be thinking and evaluating.
So, sit back and enjoy the ride this week. Or, rather, you may not enjoy it, because searching and changing attitudes and practices is never a comfortable journey. But it is a necessary one. Are you ready?