Short Term Marriage

Just when you think you have heard it all, something else comes along. I just saw a news report that tells of a proposal being considered by Mexico City lawmakers to create adjustable marriage contracts. These contracts can be renewed when the contract expires if the couple are happy with the arrangement. The minimum contract length is two years, but people can make them for longer if they wish.

This proposal is being put forth by the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) which holds a majority in the Mexico City council. Mexico City tends to be quite a liberal enclave within Mexico and the PRD represents that liberal political bent.

While this proposal seems totally absurd on its face, it is really no different than what is happening in the U.S. with the promotion of homosexual marriage. The ones who are promoting alternative forms of marriage do so from a worldview framework that understands marriage to be strictly a sociological institution. They do not recognize the spiritual element.

In fact, most of the people promoting these alternatives believe in some form of Naturalism which doesn’t acknowledge the existence God at all. So, if all that exists is the natural world and human beings are merely a highly evolved animal creatures, marriage has no significance except on a personal and societal level. That being the case, what difference does it make if people want to create their own definitions and forms?

The Christian worldview promotes an entirely different understanding. For Christians, the unity of a man and a woman in marriage represents a special kind of spiritual bonding that the Bible refers to as “one flesh.” This oneness is an actual, objective spiritual bond which ties two people together in a new way. The two become something together that neither of them was alone. It creates in the human condition the kind of unifying bond that exists within the Trinity itself. It also represents the bond between Christ and the church and between the individual believer and God. It is way more than a mere sociological institution in human society.

The degradation and destruction of marriage has horrible results in individuals, in families and in society at large. The breakdown of the social order that we are seeing happen right before our eyes can be traced right to the feet of the breakdown of marriage.

If this is going to change, Christians have to be the ones to make it happen. Not many others are interested to the point of doing anything about it. We must not only promote a true understanding of marriage, but actively share Christ who is able to change hearts and minds. Changed hearts are the only thing that will make any difference.