Foundation of Marriage

Anytime a foundation gives out, the whole structure is, pretty much, worthless. Why do companies and churches and governments spend so much time talking through, ironing out, and solidifying the why, how, when, and where of what they do? Because when things go wrong, or when people lose their way, or when others from the outside try to change things, there must be a place to return to in order to say, "NO! This is who we are! This is what we do! This is where we're going!" How often do we go through the same foundation-building process when we enter marriage? It seems that we go through it less and less. Not only do couples not take it very seriously, but our culture has indicated it's apathy about upholding it as a valuable piece of our society at all. In preaching on marriage tomorrow, I sense that I'm opening up a can of worms. It would be much easier to not teach on it and simply assume that all in our church uphold the biblical model. Rather, I am declaring, with no apology whatsoever, that God designed marriage, that the husband and wife have different, yet equally important roles, and that these roles are crucial to a successful marriage, successful life, and a successful local church ministry. Without the faithful adherence to the roles laid out in Ephesians 5:21-33, it is very difficult to accurately communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ to a world where a distant God is good enough. As we allow the foundation of marriage to be redefined away from it's original, God-given definition, we allow our very society to crumble. We allow US to become the center and we send GOD to the sidelines, allowing Him to "play" only when we're REALLY in trouble. Although God is a fantastic "fix-it man" we need to have Him be our "architect" first.