“If you are going to marry,” thundered the speaker to the 17,000 of us attending the Urbana Student Missions Conference, “…make sure you marry someone who doubles your ministry, and doesn’t cut it in half.”
Nobody had said it quite that bluntly before but that was the message about marriage that I was taught as a young Christian leader. The focus of my energy became accumulating knowledge and skills. I read books, attended seminars, traveled to conferences, and invested three years of my life in seminary.
Marriage was only talked about in the context of helping other couples. Most present-day theology on a leader’s marriage reflects this secular view: I am a leader who happens to be married. The Christian view, however, is very different. We lead out of a marriage that serves as a sign and wonder of God’s love for the world (Ephesians 5:32).
Since Geri and I started our emotionally healthy spirituality journey in 1996, we had a deep sense that our sexuality and marriage were deeply connected to leadership – both biblically and practically. We have spent almost eighteen years studying this integration. Let me invite you now to watch on YouTube the first of a two-part podcast that begins to unpack this revolutionary truth. Click here to watch.
Pete
