by Perry Hall<\/p>\n
Divorces can get ugly. Husbands and wives can get cutthroat, trying to financially and emotionally consume the other. Anything that is personally untoward to the attorneys can be used as a fair game to play a court game unfairly. Too many divorces can be over trivial issues, which leads to such ugliness.<\/p>\n
Most believers understand the seriousness of not separating what God has joined together (Matthew 19:6). We teach that we are to abide by Jesus’s high standard that divorce not be trivial and only for sexual immorality (Matthew 19:9).<\/p>\n
Often in Scripture, marriage is God’s picture of His love for His people. Unfaithfulness to God is considered spiritual adultery because we have been joined to God (Revelation 2:18ff).<\/p>\n
Romans 7 combines these ideas of the spiritual and physical marriage.<\/p>\n
Should we apply this concept to another area? Congregations are believers joined together (Acts 9:26), because we have been added to the Lord (Acts 2:47). We belong to one another because we belong to Jesus. As a husband and wife are one, believers are one in Christ (Galatians 3:28). This extends to believers in local congregations.<\/p>\n
So how seriously should we take splitting up a congregation? Should we separate relationships that God has joined together in His Son over trivial trifles? Or should congregations – those in Christ – separate, split, only over spiritual adultery? If God doesn’t split from us, should we split from those still in a relationship with Him?<\/p>\n
Just as marital splits can get ugly, so can congregational splits. In fact, the sins start even before:<\/p>\n
“But if you bite and devour one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another<\/em>” (Galatians 5:15).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Congregational divorces can get ugly.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Perry Hall Divorces can get ugly. Husbands and wives can get cutthroat, trying to financially and emotionally consume the other. Anything that is personally untoward to the attorneys can be used as a fair game to play a court game unfairly. Too many divorces can be over trivial issues, which leads to such ugliness.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[301,167],"class_list":["post-95269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-division","tag-divorce"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67739,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-a-person-lied-about-his-past-marriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":95269,"position":0},"title":"What if a person lied about his past marriage?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 21, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Greetings, I have enjoyed reading your studies and answers for many years. I have two questions if you could answer them please. So far I have only been able to find an answer in necessary inference. If a Christian in good standing unknowingly marries a person who lied about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25370,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-every-divorce-that-is-not-for-fornication-a-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":95269,"position":1},"title":"Is every divorce that is not for fornication a sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: \"How it is possible for a requirement that if a woman divorces her husband, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband (a command by the Lord according to Paul) if the only allowed cause for divorce is fornication which gives by implication the non-fornicator the right\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29716,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-cant-i-remarry-if-i-fought-the-divorce\/","url_meta":{"origin":95269,"position":2},"title":"Why can’t I remarry if I fought the divorce?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If my wife files for a divorce and I fight it because she is not divorcing me for adultery and the courts give her her way, am I not allowed to remarry even if I fought it and was forced to allow her a divorce? Answer: There is only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43526,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-matthew-199-only-refer-to-fornication-prior-to-marriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":95269,"position":3},"title":"Does Matthew 19:9 only refer to fornication prior to marriage?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I am confused about your definition of porneia in Mathew 5:32 and Matthew 19:9. In your answer to the question \"My wife is leaving me after only seven months of marriage. Where does this leave me?\" you said that: \"One of the reasons for the divorce has to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16443,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-divorced-my-first-wife-and-am-married-but-my-wife-says-we-are-not-married-in-gods-sight-is-that-true\/","url_meta":{"origin":95269,"position":4},"title":"I divorced my first wife and am married, but my wife says we are not married in God’s sight. Is that true?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been married for twelve years. I have been married before my current wife and I divorce my first wife and ask God for forgiveness. My current wife told me I'm still married to my first wife in God's eyes. I want to know if that's true? My\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2894,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-it-matter-who-files-for-the-divorce\/","url_meta":{"origin":95269,"position":5},"title":"Does it matter who files for the divorce?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When you say that someone may divorce their spouse due to fornication, does it matter who actually files the papers? A woman I know moved out of her house, filed divorce papers, and then started dating another man. 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