For the Honor of Serving the King

"Forbid that we should ever consider the holding of a commission from the King of kings a sacrifice, so long as other men esteem the service of an earthly government as an honor. I am a missionary, heart and soul. . . In His service I hope to live, in it I wish to die, I still prefer poverty and missions service to riches and ease. This is my choice."

David Livingstone

History's View of Single Ministers

Today, in churches and in missions organizations there are many unmarried people serving in ministry positions of leadership. These follow in the footsteps of Jeremiah, Nehemiah, Apostle Paul, John the Baptist or more recent examples such as Lottie Moon, Amy Carmichael, Trevor Douglas, David Brainerd, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or John Stott.

In Albert Hsu’s book, “Singles at the Crossroads,” he writes of how the historical Christian perspective of singleness has seemed to swing between extremes.

A Heart of Worship

All of us are motivated by our strongest desires.  Every moral decision that we encounter, every decision that involves “right and wrong,” is either influenced by our desire for Christ or our desires for some form of self.

             If Christ is the chief desire that sits on the throne of our hearts then all other desires will submit to our allegiance to Christ. As we abide in Him He will quiet our hearts, clear our minds, and reveal the true reality of the world around us. As we find our needs met in Him and what was accomplished on the cross our desperate longings for the things of the world will begin to subside.

An Advantage to be Single

It was around 3:00 a.m. and the phone woke me for the second time in as many hours. It had come to light that one of the middle school youth who had been attending our church was guilty of sexually molesting his younger sister. Once this became known he had been beaten by his older brother and fled his home running away shirtless in sub-freezing temperatures. The police had found him and I had met with the family at the police station around midnight. Now, three hours later, the police were calling and wanting to know if he could spend the night at my house because his house was not a safe place for him to be. As a single male minister I agreed to have him stay at my house. As a married minister with children, that would have been a more difficult situation.

As a single minister there have been countless times that it has been an advantage to be single. There have also been those times that being married would have been extremely helpful. I understand what Paul was saying in 1 Corinthians 7 when he spoke of how a single person can have an unhindered focus on the things of God, but what about those days when being single seems like a hindrance?