Monday, February 14, 2011

Marriage Is Like a Crucifixion? A Strange Valentine Message

If you were at West County Fellowship yesterday (2/13/11) you have already heard this thought but it bears repeating. I came across a quote from C.S. Lewis on marriage as I prepared for a message on what it means to be a husband:

“Christian writers have sometimes spoken of the husband’s headship with a complacency to make the blood run cold. We must go back to our Bibles. The husband is the head of the wife just in so far as he is to her what Christ is to the Church. He is to love her as Christ loved the Church-read on-and give his life for her. This headship, then, is most fully embodied not in the husband we should all wish to be but in him whose marriage is most like a crucifixion; whose wife receives most and gives least….

At first this may seem like a strange Valentine's Day sentiment: that our marriages should should be more like crucifixions. This seems at complete odds with the romantic pictures of lovers lost in passion for one another. And yet the idea of a man giving himself... to die to himself... to love and protect his lover is perhaps the most profoundly romantic idea imaginable. It is a challenging and inspiring idea to us husbands that in our marriages, our wives should "receive most and give least." This is the way of Christ with his bride. What is your way with your bride?

To hear the full message from yesterday's worship service, Husbands: Leadership in Service of Another, click here.

1 comment:

  1. Daryl,

    Didn't listen to your message, so you might already be aware of this article, but if not, you should check out "When marriage is dying" that ran in Touchstone Magazine a few years ago. I often use it when counseling couples. Here's a link:

    http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=14-10-020-v

    ReplyDelete