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Our society has embraced the convenience of disposable
items. There are disposable napkins, plates, cups, eating utensils, baby
wipes, diapers, cleaning supplies, contact lenses, and the list goes on
and on. Many of these things make our daily life much easier and more sanitary.
And we're grateful for them. But I believe this ease of "disposability"
has crossed over into territory which is far from sanitary. I speak of
our society's evil trend toward treating people as disposable, too. Do
we, as Christians, do so, too?
Unborn babies. God's Word makes it
clear that each person is created by God in the womb:
| 13For you created my inmost
being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14I praise
you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,
I know that full well. 15My frame was not hidden from you when
I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths
of the earth, 16your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days
ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
–Psalm
139:13-16 (NIV)
[See also Isaiah
44:2, 24; Isaiah
49:5; Jeremiah
1:4-6] |
It is also very clear in His Word that God forbids
killing innocent humans:
And, yet, millions of innocent babies have been
murdered in the womb (and some even after emerging from the womb) with
the approval of the government and the people as a whole. We dress it up
by calling it by politically correct terms like "abortion" and "choice,"
but a rose by any other name would still smell just as sweet (or in this
case rotten), and it's murder. Our babies have become disposable
in the eyes of our society. By and large, we sit idly by and turn a blind
eye to this evil. God does not. Babies are not disposable to God; they
shouldn't be to us, either.
Spouses. The Bible states in no uncertain
terms that divorce is contrary to God's will:
| "I hate divorce," says the Lord God
of Israel . . . –Malachi
2:16 (NIV)
1Jesus then left that place
and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of
people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them. 2Some
Pharisees came and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce
his wife?" 3"What did Moses command you?" he replied. 4They
said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send
her away." 5"It was because your hearts were hard that Moses
wrote you this law," Jesus replied. 6"But at the beginning of
creation God 'made them male and female.' 7'For this reason
a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8and
the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. 9Therefore
what God has joined together, let man not separate." 10When
they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11He
answered, "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits
adultery against her. 12And if she divorces her husband and
marries another man, she commits adultery." –Mark
10:1-12
(NIV)
[See also Matthew
19:1-12;
Luke
16:18; 1
Corinthians 7:10-17] |
God's Word clearly teaches that when two people
marry, they become one flesh. God has joined them together and they are
not to be separated. This is so very simple . . . just like
the "standard" marriage vows which go something like, "for better, for
worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, 'til death do
us part." But is that the way it is in our society today? Or even in our
churches? No, the statistics I've heard recently are that half of marriages
end in divorce. That's pitiful even by the world's standards, but in the
church it's inexcusable and disgraceful. And it's because many selfishly
see their spouses as disposable. When things aren't as rosy as they once
were, one or both spouses begin to think they'd be better off without the
other. They want to be "free" of the burden of dealing with the other person–they
want to be "happy." How can doing the very thing which God said He hates,
which is forbidden in His Word, make someone truly happy? It doesn't. But
this fact doesn't seem to stop many from trying to separate what God has
joined together.
Husbands and wives, you are one flesh. You vowed
to love one another for as long as you both shall live. Do it. Love is
an action, not a feeling. Don't harden your heart; love your spouse the
way God loves you–unconditionally.
Your spouse is not disposable.
Others. There are so many others
ofttimes considered to be disposable, I surely will unintentionally miss
naming some. Some of these other "disposable people" include the elderly,
the terminally ill, the mentally ill, the physically handicapped, those
with serious problems such as addictions, troublesome teens, "illegal aliens,"
and persecuted Christians in other countries. In other words, we can be
apathetic toward other people for whom our taking the time to care might
be too difficult or take too much of our time or effort.
Think about it. Are there people whom you consciously
or subconsciously consider to be "disposable"? Remember this:
| 16"For God so loved the
world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall
not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his
Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through
him. –John
3:16 (NIV) |
God loved the whole world–that
means every one-enough to send His Son to die for our sins so that
we could be saved. If He loves everyone that much (and He does), then we
should also do our utmost to do so. No one–be
they unborn infant, unloving spouse, elderly with dementia, terminally
or mentally ill, etc.–is
disposable. No one.
Copyright © 2004 Kimberly B.
Southall. All rights reserved.
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