The Mission Field

Don’t worry, I have already heard it all before:

“There are no cute – hot – interesting - smart Christians out there!”

  

Hmmm, really?  Somewhere in your Bible, God promises you a cute – hot – interesting - smart Christian spouse?  I seem to remember Paul telling us to remain single, so as to be free to serve God – and to only marry if we are incapable of controlling our desires.  So, it appears that you are not even promised a spouse, much less a Christian one!

Of course, if you are to marry, you are to marry another Christian.  In order to do so, in this day and age, you will probably be doing your search via dating (a subject from another post!).

What I am interested in discussing this time is about “Missionary Dating”.  Yeah, you know, there is only gag-meat out there in Christian singles-land so you will need to go out and find yourself a spouse by converting them to Christianity.  A noble gesture, no doubt in your mind.

Of course, were you actually to allow God to work in your life – you might just find there is already a pretty good candidate near by – you are just too blinded by your own lack of faith to see them.  So, rather than live your life and wait upon the Lord – you go forth into the big world to discover, conquer, convert and wed that special someone of your own choosing.  And, when that doesn’t work out and ends in divorce – well it is God’s fault after all for not having brought that special someone along in the first place.  Right?

I have known a great many Christian singles and usually I bang my head on a wall and scream when they get into marriage mode.  Too many have gone the “Missionary Dating” route.  In two cases, the victim did convert and they lived happily ever after.  In the vast majority of the marriages – if it even went that far – they only pretended to convert so they could marry their pursuer.  Then across time, the victim discovered having a Christian was actually not what they had in mind at all – and they were gone – leaving one damaged Christian in their dust.  And guess what!  Everyone of them blamed God for their problems!

Why did I say, ‘if it even went that far’ above?  Well, because more times than not, they never did get married – they just ended up playing house instead.  My Bible calls this something else, but not the topic of discussion this time around.  

Main point is: rarely will you ever raise someone to your level – you will almost always be drawn down to theirs.  Yes, there are exceptions – I am pretty sure you are probably not one of them.  

Talk to me 5 years from now, if you want to argue the point…..