Hello everyone,
We see a lot of discussion here and around the entire forum concerning the subject of unequal yoking--please note that I am not in any way, shape, or form, trying to say that this teaching should somehow be lessened or ignored, as it is something clearly discussed in God's Word by the Apostle Paul.
However, it always seems to me that so many people state "unequal yoking" as the" OBVIOUS", supposed " BLACK AND WHITE SITUATION" of, (drumroll, please) Christians and non-Christians.
It may just be me, but life is so very often neither white nor black in its situations and choices. What, as Christians, are we to do?
I hear a lot of good Christian advice in which we are told, "Only marry an equally yoked Christian! Don't even talk to someone who isn't!" but I know many good, Christian people who married another good, Christian yokie (forgive me for making up some of my own terms here), then did "all the right things", followed all the "good, Biblical advice", and yet everything still fell apart.
(I am NOT by any means mocking the Bible, but what I mean here is that there are so many "good Christians" who seem to have the attitude of, "Just follow all the rules and you'll be set," as if that were a. completely possible and b. is some sort of clockwork formula that works every time without fail, as some people HAVE followed all the rules as best they can and still wind up in divorce court.)
On the flipside, I know of at least one Christian couple (elders at my old church, very popular and very respected) in which the man came to Christ while they were dating. If they had followed all the "good, Christian advice" I have so often heard, they would have never wound up together.
When they first met, the woman was willing to move on because he was not a Christian, but the man decided he was going to look into "this Christianity business" because it was so important to her. His main motivation at the time may have been their relationship, but his faith proved to be sincere. They have built a several decades-long marriage, lovely family, and extremely respected ministry that is well-known in the area.
For this particular thread, I am interested in presenting some situations in which BOTH PEOPLE ARE CHRISTIANS.
Which of these situations, whether any, none, or all, would you consider to be unequally yoked, and WHY? Should it be enough that both people are Christians--would they be expected to work through most of these situations because of their faith? Why or why not? Feel free to voice your thoughts, situations, and experiences.
All of the choices listed are things I have either gone through myself or else have seen someone else go through, and yes, the last one is also a real-life situation and something I decided to throw in just for fun (thanks very much to J&M for giving me the idea and permission... and even more thanks to M for threatening me to write this thread!)
Nothing like a heavy task-master to set my computer keys in motion!!! (I tried telling him that he should pay me to write a thread for him concerning some of his ideas... but he cited a ridiculously low salary for my offer, so I decided I'll just write what I want on my own. We all know it goes downhill when some corporate sponsor tries to tell us what to write!)
But, I digress... Share with us what you think of the above "couples" and whether or not they should be dating based on their "equal"... or not... yoking.
Mucho Gracias.
We see a lot of discussion here and around the entire forum concerning the subject of unequal yoking--please note that I am not in any way, shape, or form, trying to say that this teaching should somehow be lessened or ignored, as it is something clearly discussed in God's Word by the Apostle Paul.
However, it always seems to me that so many people state "unequal yoking" as the" OBVIOUS", supposed " BLACK AND WHITE SITUATION" of, (drumroll, please) Christians and non-Christians.
It may just be me, but life is so very often neither white nor black in its situations and choices. What, as Christians, are we to do?
I hear a lot of good Christian advice in which we are told, "Only marry an equally yoked Christian! Don't even talk to someone who isn't!" but I know many good, Christian people who married another good, Christian yokie (forgive me for making up some of my own terms here), then did "all the right things", followed all the "good, Biblical advice", and yet everything still fell apart.
(I am NOT by any means mocking the Bible, but what I mean here is that there are so many "good Christians" who seem to have the attitude of, "Just follow all the rules and you'll be set," as if that were a. completely possible and b. is some sort of clockwork formula that works every time without fail, as some people HAVE followed all the rules as best they can and still wind up in divorce court.)
On the flipside, I know of at least one Christian couple (elders at my old church, very popular and very respected) in which the man came to Christ while they were dating. If they had followed all the "good, Christian advice" I have so often heard, they would have never wound up together.
When they first met, the woman was willing to move on because he was not a Christian, but the man decided he was going to look into "this Christianity business" because it was so important to her. His main motivation at the time may have been their relationship, but his faith proved to be sincere. They have built a several decades-long marriage, lovely family, and extremely respected ministry that is well-known in the area.
For this particular thread, I am interested in presenting some situations in which BOTH PEOPLE ARE CHRISTIANS.
Which of these situations, whether any, none, or all, would you consider to be unequally yoked, and WHY? Should it be enough that both people are Christians--would they be expected to work through most of these situations because of their faith? Why or why not? Feel free to voice your thoughts, situations, and experiences.
All of the choices listed are things I have either gone through myself or else have seen someone else go through, and yes, the last one is also a real-life situation and something I decided to throw in just for fun (thanks very much to J&M for giving me the idea and permission... and even more thanks to M for threatening me to write this thread!)
Nothing like a heavy task-master to set my computer keys in motion!!! (I tried telling him that he should pay me to write a thread for him concerning some of his ideas... but he cited a ridiculously low salary for my offer, so I decided I'll just write what I want on my own. We all know it goes downhill when some corporate sponsor tries to tell us what to write!
)But, I digress... Share with us what you think of the above "couples" and whether or not they should be dating based on their "equal"... or not... yoking.
Mucho Gracias.
