MARRIAGE, THE FAMILY AND GOD’S ETHICAL BALANCE The GROWJOURNAL January - April 2014. Editor: David Dungji Chinke Contributors: Yilkat Gopye Lami Chinke ISSN: 2141 - 9507 Published in Nigeria © 2013 by Engraved in Gold Media Enterprises +2348065721408, dungji@engravedingold.com, daviddunji@yahoo.com Jos, Plateau State Nigeria " EDITORIAL : A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE; IS THE CHURCH LEFT AT THE ALTER BY THE UNKNOWN GOD? Dwayne Wyane was my favorite act of one of my favorite comedy series on TV “A different world”. The American comedy show was that of a campus where the typical life of young undergraduates was showcased. At the time I was not anywhere near the university but the American comedy show aired by a local Nigerian station caught me right at the doorstep of teenage when all my hopes and dreams focused on the life when freedom was just a taste away in the confines of the university system. Every bone in me ached to find my self in such surrounds. Dwayne started as a freshman with many of his friends whom I really do not clearly remember or the nature of their act. But one person was clearly distinctive and that was whitely – a spoilt rich girl who seemed at first to be far too sophisticated for a lowlife kid – Dwayne – from the projects who was though a straight a student. Whitely was A beautiful undergraduate whom dwayne fell in love with and vice versa. The love game started in earnest as the two began to live out their high school fantasies on the ever willing grounds of a college or university. on and on it went – you wont believe I followed this comedy series until the whole show ended with dwayne going steady with whitely – and after graduation, they finally married. Or so you wished, it seemed to have a happy ending but for one little glitch. Dwayne literally had to upstage his rival a high society rich kid who had caused them to break up and who had succeeded in taking whitely to the alter. He dressed up at first to attend the wedding and latter on showed up at the middle of the I do’s to break the whole party and propose to his college sweetheart who hastily agreed, and practically left her puzzled groom right there at the alter to get married to dwayne – or you wish she had done that. Oh no the priest who was supposed to be marrying them actually performed the ceremony for Dwayne and whitely right there on the spot at a wedding that was supposed to be for the other guy and whitely. I was excited at watching my favorite act whom I had built into the protagonist of the whole show win the day. But right inside I think at the very debt of my heart I lost my love for the whole show and I either stopped watching or it stopped airing. Maybe for fear that the lives of my now two favorite actors would grow dim or that the whole thing was just too gruesome for me- the fact that Bill Cosby suddenly took over that show by amalgamating it with his other act the Bill Cosby show didn’t help either. (I just got reminded via Google he created the whole thing). The fact is that it’s not a funny deal to be upstaged on your wedding day. Neither for the bride nor for the groom. Many brides are known to practically loose it when something goes wrong on her wedding day, hence the popular theme: “my day”. Men are usually seen to be better off but this may be because they would rather channel the anger and frustration somewhere else. Marriage as an institution seems to suffer the blows from a frustrated society which prefers thus to undermine its influence and thus promote more peace. That does not help the plight of the religion that promotes the sanctity of marriage either. In that case a religion which ultimately waits for its proposed bride groom to return from a long journey and sweep her off her feet with a wedding of the millennium. In this case she does not envisage any disappointment, except for those who have not in their hearts truly espoused this groom – Christ. As seen in the parable of the 10 virgins. But indeed the world shivers at the prospects of a groom who may indeed leave his anticipating bride at the alter. In that case, many a parity doctrines are apt to develop weather to the receptive ears of this unseen groom or not we are ultimately unsure – and that is why many in theological circles do encourage a much clearer understanding of this God. Despite the tendency for many to espouse an unknown god. The apostle Paul encourages us to espouse the known God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. In that case, faith gains a ground of sureness and clarity espouses certainty. In this edition of the GROWJournal I intend to try and clearly distinguish the responsibility of the Church as custodians of the Word of God as the Bible presents Him as compared to the post-modern urgings for ethical relativity. " COVER : MARRIAGE, THE FAMILY AND GOD’S ETHICAL BALANCE By David Dungji Chinke I will begin this article with a biblical text this time around, in this case, 1st Corinthians 5:1-5 which Concerns itself with a topic of immoral behavior. In our generation it is difficult to talk about adultery and fornication, this is because of the corrupt nature of institutions established which includes some church setups. I am thus quick to add that my discussions in this article are mostly born from high urgent demand and are tailored towards the more mature in faith that in Christian terms would be ready for marriage even if they are young. Thus applications must be done under a strict counseling environment. After almost 200 years of Christianity in some parts of the continent of Africa and Nigeria, we find some cultural evolution taking place amidst this corruption which has not been adequately tackled and indeed without God’s mercy is almost impossible to tackle for the natural human community. The desire for children among African tribes has led them to lean towards a belief in pre marital sex to ascertain fertility of the couple. This desire for children has not been adequately doused by the proliferation of Christianity and even Islam – and so these cultures remain very active amidst the new faith. This also encourages polygamy, divorce and remarriage etc. Another issue that plagues our generation is that of suffering and unemployment, in that case marriage is a late life agenda and thus young people ready for marriage are not able to gain such stability and are forced to masturbate, indulge in pornography, or even have premarital affairs due to long courtship and long courtship can lead to multiple sexual relationships that do not culminate in marriage. Some say there are more female than male and so polygamy is legal. But others say polygamy leads to scarcity of female and thus there will be not enough to go round as it where. Medical reasons are: that Marital sexual incompatibility raises the question of divorce and remarriage. Sexual incapability in some cases, which sometimes comes from polygamy and age difference. All in all this leads to make some certain level of immorality look almost impossible to curb. But the only reason the bible speaks about immoral behavior and even outlaws it is because Jesus death and resurrection gives grace for sinful believers and aids them with the Holy Spirit to resist temptation. That is why in the Old Testament divorce was allowed, Deuteronomy 24:1-5, Mathew 5:31, 19:3. Leviticus 18:7; lists laws of marriage, the people of that time did not have the provisions given by Christ’s kingdom; the Holy Spirit. Thus polygamy was tolerated to a certain level, but also, marriage was made simpler and compulsory for certain age groups. Some of these laws were strict for the sake of societal stability but Christ’s laws are for a more profound disciplined set of people who obeyed the spirit of the Law and not just the letter, and this spirit of the law is based on agape (unconditional love). Because of this, the apostle Paul is angry with the people because of a report he has heard about fornication in their midst, he has absolute confidence that people he himself has brought up in faith should not be found in such a dilemma. That of a man marrying his father’s wife – this was something that was popular among the kings of nations and even sometimes in Israel – although secretly an abomination. E.g. as in the case of Ruben, Judah and Absalom. the nature of sexual immorality and many other sins is that once a person does it, it spreads very fast because many times it is easier to do than not to. In the beginning it might seem accidental and sometimes innocent but later on, even those participating in it begin to hate themselves (because of the sense of God’s nature in them) and destruction soon follows – weather at the family level or at the larger societal level. Thus the necessity of the ethical balance if we are to try universalizing any of our Christian biblical values. THE ETHICAL BALANCE Marriage issues are not independent of themselves when looking at them from the ethical perspective. When I was studying this, I discovered that In Gods diction there is never an absence of law only an interpretation for proper action. Matthew 5:17 “don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfill them” (NLT). He that finds a wife finds a good thing (Proverbs 18:22), but many are at a loss why those blessings are not always forth coming. Technically from this scripture, a bad wife is not a wife. There are strategic wisdoms to tap into in this generation from the bible. In Genesis 2:23, Notice that Adam reported and got eve punished but he was also held responsible hence his own punishment. But all in all, marriage cannot be built on a non existent ethic, it must allude to a moral authority if it is to be sustained, if not, it is non existent. That is why some societies accept relationships outside the boundaries of marriage e.g. cohabitation. This is not the desire of a moral God who created the world to have some kind of stability, serenity and order. But knowing very well that the humanity He has created have fallen and need his help, he has provided through scripture a moral balance for those who find themselves ambushed by spirit of chaos that rules this world, that spirit that has yet taken form, who’s name we could not mention except what the bible tells us of him, that spirit called Satan (see the next article: The delusional masters: the harry potter story). Hence the ethical balance relies on three authorities, two at the extreme and being carried and sustained by the omnipotent, omniscient God in the person of Jesus Christ. This is found in 3 scriptures: On one extreme of the scale balance is the Jewish law as a standard for cultural and sometimes legal emulation is Deuteronomy 22:19 – 29; 24:1-5, and Leviticus 18:7,; 21 & 22 which sets out clear laws on who and how to marry, and then even sets out that divorce is permitted and states how many times a person can divorce and remarry. On the other extreme of the scale balance is 1st Corinthians 7:12 – 24, gives guidelines for people trapped in relationships unbalanced by belief. It gives the go ahead to believers not to remain bound by unbelieving people who are not willing to continue with the marriage. But also gives a clear warning that divorce and remarriage are not things to hurry into, infact he encourages those who can remain unmarried to do so (1st Corinthians 7:25-37) and also accepting the Old Testament requirement that bereavement is a reason for remarriage (1st Corinthians 7:39-40). Pivoting the scale balance is the person of Jesus who rejects divorce altogether he begins through the prophets from Proverbs 18 by eliminating the idea of a bad wife. Then in Malachi 2:16 he says I hate divorce, because is it a cruel thing. And then he concludes in Mathew 5:31 saying that divorce is wrong because it is the cause of immoral actions (remember that this is precisely because God maintains that any marriage conducted under him is a good one, the spouse is seen not to have any other alternative because what he or she has done is the best possible option for him/her). This scripture in verse 32 says the only reason for divorce is unfaithfulness. He also reiterates this in Matthew 19:3-9. This pivotal position by Christ himself helps a believer entrapped in Satan’s intrigues in this wicked world to have a standard in which to operate. In this case while helpless with an unwilling partner, having patiently tried all avenues to obey Christ’s law, he/she first alludes to Paul’s concession in the case of unfaithfulness or death, and while unifying the concepts promoted by the apostle Paul and his master Jesus Christ by the principle that joins them together, and that is the fact that; if one is able he/she can remain unmarried (Matthew 19:10-12, 1st Corinthians 7:25). But if all this fails and the believer finds himself bestowed with godly responsibility, he/she can remarry being protected by the words of the apostle Paul and also by the standard of Gods law given to the Jews which seems to allude that remarriage can only be done once and after that no more (Deuteronomy 24:1-4). That means the second marriage must be permanent and if it is allowed to fail, it cannot be more than a separation or if it progresses to divorce because of unfaithfulness then their cannot be remarriage. Remember that the balance is a Christian balance not a Jewish one (not strict on the legal application) it only alludes to aspects of Judaism to find unison in Christ. This provides us with ability under Christ to sustain an ethical, moral, stable and sustainable society and more importantly a kingdom society. That is why discipleship is very important for young people at an early stage so that the first mistakes of their lives can be corrected before it becomes an issue that will keep them susceptible to immoral tendencies. In this generation, medical reasons can be handled specially; there are Christian specialists who can help with these problems. And many other situations which we cannot handle in this short article, cases of same sex tendencies are clearly not accepted in the bible – but we are aware that the bible not being a science text book does not consider physiological issues such as those who claim transexuality or who say they were born “hermaphrodites” if I am allowed to use that word, or have two different reproductive organs. The only exception is Matthew 19:10-12. This tackles the issue of Eunuchs but not transexuality. Under Christian dogma, these will be treated as special cases, but in this generation, not many accept such special status and desire equality in the form of freedom of expression, which is difficult to guarantee. But this should not cause any problems either since many societies guarantee protection from sexual harassment – it is thus applicable for all and to all POLIGAMY In the light of this, polygamy in its essence is a form of divorce. Divorce with the wife of ones youth, bigamy is the result and oneness is naturally negated. Polygamy is an institution on its own and creates a new set of questions that cannot be simply answered and thus is a study for another occasion. But in general, the bible clearly discourages it even though allowing former unbelievers who had already been involved in it to remain as they are but cannot become elders in church (1st Timothy 3:1-4). Nevertheless it is not strange to encounter adamancy on the part of certain people who refuse peace and create complications in order to distort interpretation and negate any form of stability in dogma. In that case the balance still applies. Furthermore, Christianity is a religion for a conscious mind. Conversion is done consciously and thus the Christian life also. I have recently encountered an allusion to a cartel which specializes in harvesting semen to implant in different women so as to declare the man incapable of moral competence – this is an aberration worthy of criminal prosecution, and God’s punishment (a form of rape see my article ON RAPE). But it is clear that there are many social questions that arise and must not be overlooked. E.g. in the case of Israel’s war with Benjamin in Judges 21:8-25, (only emulating in context – War being most times ill advised). All in all God desires that we live in peace and so he has provided enough for us to do so. " THE DELUSIONAL MASTERS: THE HARRY POTTER STORY By David Dungji Chinke I first encountered the idea of post-modernity in the ECWA Theological Seminary Jos, Dr. Rose Galadima was presenting a paper on the subject for a few days, I think some time in 2006 or 2007. Of course I was just in my second year of theological studies and I could not clearly perceive what she was talking about until latter on in my studies. In this post-modern age, we are faced with the realities that many subscribe to fictional imagery and stories told by pure genius of experience and perception rather than the bible. It is thus pertinent that I continue in my usual fashion to x-ray certain salient themes within the movie world while denying that on the whole they bare any omnipotent quality to human existence and neither should they. The face of one who should not be seen, his name, that which should not be mentioned. Voldimort, one who attempts to take over the entire magical kingdom by force entrenching law and order, alienate all gifted folk and mixed bloods from the system. He targets his perceived final attack on a family who had just had a baby; his aim is to destroy the couple and also their son. He succeeds in part but finds himself in square one when little harry potter survives his magical spell. Voldimort is defeated and imprisoned in a death faze which he begins to fight off. His bodiless form taking gradual shape and restoring him to physical form by destroying all that is pure and right, building a network of magicians who begin to relive his ambition to restore himself as head of the magical order and kingdom. Still he faces the threat of an ever growing young magician in the form of Harry Potter; a foe he could not destroy once before. The many themes in Harry Potter’s series besides magic are pungent to reveal the struggle between good and evil. But looking deeper into its themes one is forced to see a much more silent theme. Questions of identity, religions, kingdoms and hidden mysteries that govern our earth. Hidden behind a script writers mischief and imagination are truer themes that debug the very nature of our evolving lives. These are the few questions that we must answer to discover and debug these themes: 1. Who is Harry Potter 2. Who is voldimort 3. What constitutes the world of magic? 4. The mythical and mystical bird; the sphinx lives to be discovered for its true identity. It is pertinent to observe and thus differentiate. That those of us who piously view the world in black and white and believe so naively in the governments and substance of our belief systems must be forced to seek further knowledge and guidance vis-à-vis the prevailing circumstances which enlighten us. " FROM THE PASTORS DESK: CRMI AND G.R.O.W, PARTNERING FOR EXCELLENCE IN 2014 by David Dungji Chinke I want to take a little time to review the activities of CHRIST REVIVAL MISSION INTERDENOMINATIONAL during the past year. This will hopefully set the pace for our activities in 2014. Having began settling down to put the ministry back on its feet after some slow months and the sudden demise of its founder, Dr. L.G Chinke; we had to reaffirm the foundation of Christ Jesus through rigorous teaching and fellowship in the Spirit of Christ. One of the cardinal institutions we saw fit to revive and strengthen was the fellowship around the table of the Lord. Communion as a cardinal ecclesiastical Christian principle was entrenched. In concluding the year 2013 we saw fit to organize an 8day revival program titled: REVIVAL AND YOUR CHRISTIAN IDENTITY. This program ran from the 8th December to the 15th of December 2013. Which rolled out programs such as prayer, a musical concert, a family social day where we watched movies and ate together, public and rural evangelism and communion service. It was indeed hectic for the membership of this small congregation even as a few of our friends from elsewhere joined us. One of the most exciting events for me was the opportunity to go to the rural area for an outreach, there I had the rare privilege of preaching in my local language - which I scarcely do. After which we sang all day and the people joined us in praise and worship (in the coming years we hope to extend this other villages that will welcome us). One of the most joyous scenes for me also was when I got to see for the first time the number of widows who are beneficiaries of the help program initiated by CRMI which was handled by our board chairperson Mrs. H. Gobel Chinke. On the whole it was an opportunity to plant more seeds of love and communion thereby strengthening and contributing to the ministry Christ left for us to do. When I think of the world we live in today, I cannot help but wonder how far the ministry Christ left behind will go after this generation – a pity we might not be able establish a human settlement on the mars before Christ returns after all?. In a world governed by post modernity we cannot help but harbor a mixture of optimism and a little skepticism on what this and the next generation will become with the level of opposition and lack of concern for the principles that Christ taught. The churning wheels of commerce driven by globalization have indeed seemed to be moving fast, past their former perceived accomplist – faith. And thus former foes of the faith seem to be amalgamating their forces for the final onslaught against the message of Christ. And amidst a humanist revolution, the more robust concept of humanism seems to be giving way to a complex mix of atheism and hedonism – postmodernism notwithstanding (see also The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth; The Metaphysical Dynamics of Revival by David Dungji Chinke). While recognizing this however, we insist at G.R.O.W that wherever we find ourselves which includes CRMI, there continues to be a Unison and not a diversion in Gods will as parallel to the progression and development of the world, the only question is weather we understand it and can move with God’s idea as separate from our community or individual ideas? With these thoughts I continue to churn our membership and all who subscribe to our material, forth as we employ Gods Word by the unction of the Holy Spirit to do just that. God bless Pastor CRMI. <<  <<   >>