What Do You Believe About Singleness?

One of my dear friends texted me a couple days ago to say that her senior-in-high-school son asked her if being single was a sin. He was concerned about this after hearing a woman ask for prayer that God would give her a husband and children. I don’t know much else about the context, but can assume that the attitude in which she asked made it seem like she was doing something wrong by not having the spouse + 2.5 kids yet. It broke my heart to know this worried him, because this young man is such a particularly awesome human being. If the American church is making even our teenagers feel bad for being single, how much more must those of us who are older, having been single longer, feel we are doing something wrong?

It’s time for the modern American church to look more closely at what the Bible has to say about the single life, and ask ourselves if not only our words are backing this up, but our tones, our insinuations, and our actions. Many times have I had a pastor or Bible teacher preach truth from the pulpit, saying that singleness is a valid lifestyle choice, a gift from the Lord, then turn around and try to set up all the single women with the single men. In order to counteract young Christians having sex before marriage, many churches champion young marriages and hold them up as the gold standard. The message this sends is confusing and can even be harmful. 

This weekend I was able to speak on singleness at a conference at my home church, Cornerstone West LA. I was asked to discuss how having a biblical view of singleness practically affects our lives. Since I was only able to spend about 5 minutes on each of my main points, I’m going to spend the next few weeks delving into each one a little more in depth.

Let me start with some basics by going into a bit of the theology behind my views on singleness. Rather than forming our opinions on Christian singleness on the cultural standards of today, let’s find our standards in things above. Being single does not mean we are missing something. There is not some gaping hole in us that can only be filled by our soul mate. We are not lacking. 

2 Peter 1:3 claims “his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.”

The Greek term used here for “has granted” is in the Greek perfect passive tense, which means the action has already been completed and we now are experiencing the final results of it; the passive part means it was done for us, not by us. This means that God has already given us ALL THINGS that pertain to life and godliness and we get to live in the fruit of that. Nothing is lacking. This is a statement which applies to all who are called to his own glory, every Christian. God is not withholding anything from single men and women that we could possibly need for life and godliness.

Sometimes, however, I still feel like I’m missing something. I can look around at my friends who are married or are getting married, friends who have great boyfriends, friends who have kids and dogs and are on their husband’s excellent health insurance, and think what have I done wrong for God to punish me? Here I am balancing 3 part time jobs, filling out paperwork for the Affordable Care Act which may or may not exist tomorrow, and it’s in times like these that I must remind myself that my Father is good, and loves me, and only gives good to his children.

Matthew 7:9-11 says, “or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to given good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

From this, we can assume that if we’ve been asking our Father in heaven for a spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend for awhile and it has yet to happen, that this is for our good. Instead, He has given us the specific gift of what he knows we actually need, what will be best for us. The good might not be readily apparent, but it is there. This includes Him gifting some of us singleness, whether temporarily or permanently, and others marriage.

In 1 Corinthians 7:7, Paul says “I wish that all were as I myself am [single]. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind, and one of another.”

Do you truly believe this, that singleness is as much of a gift as marriage?

If you are unhappily single and struggling with some things because of this, know that the solution to this struggle is not actually marriage. Lust, loneliness, selfishness, fear about the future, difficulty trusting God with our lives, questions of who we are and our value, all of these issues and more would still be there if you were to marry today. You might trade out a couple for some new ones, but most will not be solved by adding a spouse to your life. This is because it is not another human who will “complete us.” 

Freakin’ Jerry McGuire (look it up if you’re young) and other rom-coms use lines like this, but it is a lie. Only Christ can complete us.

Philippians 1:6 promises “and I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Rather than thinking the guy needs to get the girl at the end of every action movie and video game, that every story needs to end with the Jane Austen double wedding or the Hollywood happily ever after, let’s place our eyes firmly on the promises of the Lord and put our futures in his hands. All other promises are built on shaky ground, but his rely on the perfect nature of one who loves his children and will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

So, rather than thinking that the solution to all of our problems is marriage, we need to start looking at our struggles and try to figure out why we have them in the first place. What is the heart of the issue?

For singletons like me, we should ask ourselves this question:

Will I be fine if I never marry?

If your answer is no, ask yourself why not? Your answers to this follow up question will give you a great place to start looking at your heart issues. Journal, jot them down in your phone, tell them to a friend. Then start looking at what the Bible has to say about your fears, concerns, and discontentment. I’m convinced you will find that marriage cannot solve these issues, that trusting in our God’s sovereignty is a much better starting point than hoping in some possible future human.

For my married readers with kids, ask yourself this:

Will I be fine if my children never marry?

If your answer is no, ask yourself why not? Then ask yourself if you want God’s will for your children’s lives, or your own will? Look into what the Bible has to say about marriage and singleness and see if you are aligned with God, or just with our culture and your personal preferences.

I have been through many stages of singleness in my life so far, and probably have many more to come so I don’t want to pretend this is an easy issue. In some moments I am more than content with the way things are in my life, but others have been painful and heartbreaking. Know that this is probably true for our married friends and family as well. As one of my fellow panel members from last night mentioned, “life is hard.” And it is hard for everyone, not just single people. You can make it a bit less difficult for yourself and your single friends by speaking about singleness and thinking about it in a biblical way instead of a worldly one.

We are loved.
We are complete in Christ.
We have been given a good gift.
God has plans for us for our good and his glory.
God does not withhold good gifts from his children.
God has given us everything we need to live a godly life.

Let’s try to re-frame our thoughts from this starting point. In the upcoming weeks I’ll be looking at five practical ways this theology should affect how we singletons think and live out our lives with hope and joy and love. I hope you’ll join me.