Recently, a friend directed me to a newly published article on singleness. He thought I might like it. He was right. Mostly. Stephen Wellum begins his article, Singleness in the New Covenant, with this question:

“Where does a single person “fit” in the Bible amidst the abundant blessings of fruitfulness, fertility, and family? The answer is found by tracing the concepts of marriage and singleness throughout the covenants.”

Yes, yes, yes! This was going to be good! Then it got even better…

“However, given the significance of marriage in creation, it may seem surprising that Jesus teaches that human marriage comes to an end in the new creation. In fact, when asked about marriage in the resurrection, Jesus reminded his questioners that “at the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven” (Matt. 22:30). Thus, as central as marriage is to God’s creation purposes along with our human flourishing, ultimately marriage is created to function as a means to a larger end…”

Readers of my book would know that now Wellum was really speaking my language. He continues:

“Yet, in contrast to the Old Testament, intentional singleness for Christ’s sake now surfaces as a “gift from God” (1 Cor. 7:7), and one’s family is now prioritized in terms of the family of God.”

Preach it broth…

Hang on. Wait.

“Intentional singleness now surfaces as a gift from God?”. What just happened? Why did that adjective come into it?

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