Should I go to the wedding of a brother who is committing adultery?
Question:
Hello friend!
I need help answering a question: One of the college students at my church asked me this and I'm stumped, so I figured a brother in Christ could help me. Here's what she asked:
"My brother is getting married through the court, but he has already been married through the church and he is not divorced yet. And he is committing sin. My aunt told me that I should not participate in his wedding, and to not even attend it because God will not bless me. If I don't attend it, it will break my brother. My aunt also told me, 'Well, would you rather please God or your brother?' I just want to know what you would do or what I can do."
Thank you for your time! God bless you!
Answer:
The young lady's brother is committing adultery both now and in his plans to marry a woman while he is already married. He wants his sister at his wedding because it would show her approval of what he has chosen to do. As her aunt pointed out, the problem is that this is not a union God approves of. We cannot give approval to sin. As Paul warned, "who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them" (Romans 1:32).
Oddly, what the young lady's brother wants to do is not even accepted by the secular government. Marrying another person while still married is a crime that is called bigamy.
Even if he waits until his divorce is completed, I suspect that he still won't have the right to another marriage because it sounds like the reason his marriage is ending is due to his adultery. "So He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery" " (Mark 10:11-12).
