There has been a great deal of conversation in churches about the subject of marriage. The big topic has been homosexual marriage and the impact that state recognized marriages of homosexuals would have on the church. Today I want to raise another question, a church wedding without a state marriage license.
This is a real life scenario, not one made up to make a point.
A couple wants to join a congregation and have their children baptized. The church leadership and pastor welcome this family into the fellowship of the church. The couple, (perhaps I should add, male and female) are not married and on the lower end of the economic scale. After they joined the church the pastor has a conversation with them about marriage. Here's what he finds out...
They love each other very much, they are passionate in their desire to follow Jesus Christ, they want their children to grow and know Christ but... because of their income levels if they were legally married they would lose the health care benefits they receive from the state for their children. This is a real concern for them. They are not trying to mooch off the state, they are simply caught in the poverty trap.
What would you do as their pastor? Tell them they need to get married because its the right thing to do? Leave the whole subject behind and forget about it? In this particular case the pastor suggested that they could have a church service in which they could take their vows before God, friends and family and celebrate being married in God's eyes.
It's not necessary to take out a marriage license to be married in the church.
If you'll excuse the pun, when did the church and state become so tightly wed on the matter of marriage as both a religious and civic ceremony? (This is a rhetorical question, I know the answer)
Being married in the eyes of the state and being married in the eyes of the church are not the same thing.
