Marriage

In The Seven Reasons God Created Marriage, James Ford, senior pastor of Christ Bible Church in Chicago, aims to provide a blueprint for couples, especially those contemplating marriage. Pastor Ford brings a rich background of pastoral experience and marriage and family counseling to the writer’s table. He teaches that couples must understand why God created marriage before they can have the joy at home that God intended. He writes, “To be specific, marriage was created for the partners to share the following with each other: the pattern of the Trinity, partnership, perfecting, procreation, pleasure, purity, and the picture of Christ” (p. 16). It is upon these seven reasons that the book is structured.

Foundationally, Ford wants the reader to understand that following the pattern of the Trinity in the home is the key reason for marriage. He repeatedly explains how fulfilling one of these seven purposes fulfills God’s larger purpose of picturing the Trinity in marriage. For example, on the subject of procreation Ford states, “My point is, as the leader of your home, God helps us to prosper when we do it His way; but it’s up to every individual to allow Him to be your leader. If you follow the blueprint of the Trinity that is laid out for you, you and your family will be blessed of the Lord, living in peace and prosperity” (p. 132).

Ford redirects the reader to this foundational reason for marriage in similar ways in every chapter. He ends the book by presenting the other foundational reason for marriage—picturing Christ—then explains how this final reason completes God’s desire for marriage.

Jim and Sarah Sumner knew from the start of their relationship that they were an unlikely match. A former male stripper and the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in systematic theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School were just not meant to be together—or so many people thought. But twelve years (and many counseling sessions) later, Jim and Sarah are still married, minister beside each other, and have recently released a book together. Just How Married Do You Want to Be? is the theology and story of how they’re overcoming massive differences to become one in Christ.

As the subtitle, “Practicing Oneness in Marriage,” suggests, their book aims to move beyond the classic stereotypes that characterize most Christian marriages. Instead of discussing gender roles within marriage, the Sumners focus on the biblical concept of “one flesh” union and its resulting implications. This approach allows them to attempt a middle road between the complementarian/egalitarian debate that has been raging in broader evangelicalism.

Theological Shift

Because the Sumners are attempting to establish what they term a “new paradigm,” a significant portion of the book is given to a theological overview of the concept of headship, especially as it is expressed in the head/body metaphor of Ephesians 5:22-33. In these chapters, they contribute an interesting, if somewhat novel, perspective to the current discussion. Rather than emphasizing hierarchy, the Sumners argue that the headship imagery of Ephesians 5 is primarily teaching the intrinsic “oneness” of a married couple.

^{Editor’s Note: This article was reprinted with permission from Dan Miller’s book Spiritual Reflections. It appears here verbatim.}

The following caption in Sunday’s newspaper caught my attention: Old-fashioned, long-lasting marriage is suddenly trendy. In the article that followed, Baltimore Sun columnist, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, presented evidence of a trend toward marital commitment among pop-culture icons.

by Pastor Dan Miller

^{Editor’s Note: This article was reprinted with permission from Dan Miller’s book Spiritual Reflections. It appears here verbatim.}
On Palm Sunday, 1996, a young couple visited our church. That was the first day in a seven year saga no words could justly recount, but let me try.

Brandon and Jennifer were perfect together. They were full of life: energetic, focused, self-disciplined, in great physical shape and in love.