Further Reading
by Mitchell Strahan
This month, I’d like to talk about marriage. After all, that’s why we’re all here, right?
Ahem. This one’s for all you romantics out there. So you finished high school, got into a wonderful degree at a wonderful college. You’re possibly following in your parents’ footsteps. You’re passing all your tests, presentations, what-have-you. Life’s looking like it’s going great. What more could you want?
In addition to this, there’s that cute brunette girl/guy who sits across the caf from you, and you SWEAR she/he was checking you out.
Possibly the reason Avondale has such a dating/marriage culture comes down to these things: a group of close-knit students, at similar places in their spiritual life, with the free time between study and basketball to hang out with like-minded members of the opposite gender. Think about it – high school has too much responsibility and raging hormones, and partners are harder to stumble across in the working world. Our carefree college days are the perfect time for this. Get out there, look for others who share your stage in life, with Christ’s guidance.
At some point I’ll talk on the flip side of the coin, divorce, but for now, we’ll segue into the book review on this optimistic note.
Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas
What if God didn’t intend marriage for making you happy, as much as making you holy?
This is the premise of Gary Thomas’s Sacred Marriage. Oftentimes, we get to thinking that because we picked out the person we marry, we have the right to expect everything from them. This book turns that notion on its head, arguing that at the heart of true marriage lies a spirit of self-sacrifice that, in some significant ways, mirrors that of Christ. Marriage, argues Thomas, allows – nay, forces – us to learn Christlike discipline, and so become more like Him.
Marriage – and to a lesser extent, dating – can show us a lot about ourselves that we would rather not see; our sinfulness, selfishness, desire for self-aggrandisement to name a few. In overcoming these, Thomas writes, we can enjoy both a most fulfilling marriage and an even closer relationship with Christ.
In conclusion, I’d recommend this book to people like starry-eyed first-years, to increasingly worried fourth-years, to those looking to involve God in every aspect of their lives.
Sacred Marriage is available on order from the Adventist Book Centre, and from internet retailers.