Expository Preaching Blog #34 – “You Can’t Get Married In My Church!”

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Recently I wrote a blog titled “You Can’t Get Baptized In My Church!” If you read that one, consider this the sequel. I suppose I could also write on titled “You Can’t Take Communion In My Church!” They all fall along the same lines.

In the last 40+ years I have seen many pastors put many restrictions on many things. Who can join their church? Who can serve in their church? Who can teach in their church? You get the idea. The list goes on and on.

Pastors like to draw lines in the sand. You better not cross that line or they will have nothing to do with you. They may even speak out publically about you and against you. I have seen it done to others and I have experienced it myself many times. I am not talking about having convictions. Every Christian should develop and have convictions. Certainly every pastor should have their convictions. BUT having that conviction and living it out are two different things. I have beliefs and convictions about every spiritual subject. But how I live out those convictions is a different thing. I cannot force my convictions on others. I can differ with others and still work together for the sake of the gospel. I used to have an assistant pastor that I worked very closely with. I still don’t know to this day what some his beliefs and/or convictions were on some secondary subjects. Frankly I didn’t care. We worked together to see souls come to Christ, see the new believers baptized and then discipled in their Christian lives. We simply did not have time to pick apart the minor issues. Salvation is never based on proper marriage.

If we are going to preach in an expository manner then we need to live in an expository manner. Some pastors draw deep lines about marriage in their churches. They austrosize more people in their ministries then they include in their ministries. They drive more people away from Christ than they draw to Him. I frankly don’t care if a couple is living together or not or what they have done in their past. If they are two believers, not married to anyone else, truly love each other and want to get married I will officiate their wedding. That may seem over simplistic but I believe this. If two people are trying to follow Biblical instruction concerning commitment and marriage I am not going to stand in their way. I am going to help them follow and obey Jesus Christ every opportunity that I get. If it is marrying them together so be it.

I have relaxed “my strict standards” in many areas in recent years. I have been much more fruitful by not imposing my standards on others than I was trying to make others follow what I believed on secondary things. I believe more in the power of the Word and the work of the Holy Spirit. It is amazing what He does when we are not in His way. We need to preach the Word, teach the Word and practice the Word every chance we get until Jesus Christ returns again for us.

 

Rev. David Johnson

Former Pastor

First Baptist Church of Austin, MN

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