What does the Bible say about marriage and ministry? Er, nothing. Not really. There is a lot about marriage of course. Guess what? All of it applies to ministry couples. There is a lot about ministry. Guess what? All of it applies to ministry couples. I won’t insult your intelligence by rehearsing all of this, other than to say ‘Physician, heal thyself.’ A good starting place is to take the things you so often teach others about marriage and about ministry and apply them closer to home. That’s where you get some foundational principles from.

But marriage and ministry? Is there anything precisely about this “explosive-or-glorious?” combination in Scripture? Well, the nearest we get is some rather perplexing stuff in 1 Corinthians 7. It’s not precisely about marriage and ministry but it articulates the key issue that is often at stake.

There Paul, writing in a personal capacity rather than as an authoritative Apostle, encourages people to remain single. Why? “I would like you to be free from concern” (v32). The reality is that unmarried man is “concerned about the Lord’s affairs” whereas the married man is “concerned about the affairs of this world – how he can please his wife.” There is a parallel statement for wives. Result? “His/her interests are divided.”

That all seems slightly perplexing. The “cares of this world” is a very negative sounding word, as though marriage is somehow worldly. Well, in one sense that is right, is it not? Paul has been setting marriage in an eternal context, looking forward to the second coming. In this sense, marriage is worldly – it belongs to this world only.

And we should not read Paul too negatively. After all, it is a good thing to be “concerned for the Lord’s affairs” – so we should not read the word “concern” negatively at all. In other words, Paul is making a straightforward and relevant point. Those who are married have to divide their attention. It’s a simple fact, and especially true to ministry couples for whom the affairs of the Lord loom large 24/7.

In other words, there is an inherent tension in any marriage, and especially in ministry marriages; a tension to which we need to apply gospel truths. But more of that tomorrow.