God's Ecology of Marriage

"Mahwage is what brings us togethah."  Classic line from a classic movie.  The Princess Bride.  Marriage is a bringing together but it is also a place of painful separation.  For these reasons it gets our attention.  If we are not in one, it is assumed we must be trying to get into one.  If we are in one, we may well be trying to extract ourselves from it.  If this doesn't include us, then we are hoping to improve the one we are in or living as if the one we are in doesn't exist.  And whether we are single or doubled our lives are continuously shaped by the quality of the countless marriages that we have direct or indirect contact with.

The church honors marriage.  We are often the "place" where it officially begins.  We support marriage by promoting its permanence and recognizing its sacredness.  We produce endless books for marriages in trouble, marriages that lack meaning, marriages that want more passion, marriages craving a little respect and a whole lot of love.  We hold marriage seminars, teach marriage workshops and conduct marriage encounters.  We offer marriage counseling and we celebrate marriage anniversaries.  And yet with all this emphasis we are still prone to miss the message of marriage.  What is God's Ecology of Marriage?

Scripture

I am the vine, you are the branches.  Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.  John 15:5