Confession of Faith: Family, Singleness, and Marriage

The Mennonites believe that God intends humans to begin families and be blessed by them; in fact, all humans were created for relationship. Mennonites believe that marriage is a covenant between one man and one woman for life.  Family does not necessitate marriage however; the church is a place where people are family to one another, whether single or married, regardless of sexual orientation or single/married/divorced status - we are all walking the journey to Christ-likeness together.  We hold that being married or being single are equally good paths in life as long as we are following Jesus.

This is a powerful and controversial statement in today's society, one that can be hurtful if approached in the wrong manner.  Often, discussions on marriage or singleness simply boil down to who we are having sex with instead of looking at God's will for human life.  Humans are meant to live in relationship with one another, seeing each other as children of God who are worth-filled because God loves us.  If we saw each other as made in God's image, instead of someone who is sinning in a taboo way or is the next fulfillment of our pleasure, our relationships would change drastically.  If we also stopped condemning others but seeing everyone as on a journey towards Jesus (including ourselves), we would see that Jesus works in each of us one step at a time - none of us become sinless in a day.  It is important to note that both a single life and a married life are on equal ground in the New Testament - both are held as worthy paths to take in life.

Yet, an ever present and controversial issue for today falls upon the issue of marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman for life.  I confess that we as a church (universal) have not been loving enough about this, but we are growing in Christ all the time.  Jesus, when speaking about divorce in Matthew 19, places his stamp of approval on marriage between one man and one woman.   Anything outside of this box is considered "sin" just as all wrong doing is considered "sin."  Perry Noble, pastor of NewSpring church, points out that sex outside of marriage (regardless of orientation) is wrong, but is also simply one sin among many sins all of us do, that our salvation still lies in the same place - Jesus Christ - and that Jesus himself was tempted by every sin (Hebrews 4:14-16). We are all children of God, all have sinned, and all have the same path to redemption and transformation: Jesus Christ.

We'll eventually tackle more of the issues surrounding marriage, divorce, and singleness in this blog.  I wanted to touch upon one of the more controversial issues here (sex outside of marriage), in this post.  Know that this is a subject that many people have deep wounds regarding - I confess the Mennonite confession with love, standing in the same place as everyone else: a sinner before the throne of grace.

Want to learn more? Here is Article 19 of the Mennonite Confession of faith:   http://www.mennoniteusa.org/about/confession-of-faith-in-a-mennonite-perspective-1995/article-19-marriage/