This weekend I have the privilege of officiating at the wedding of a lovely couple. Tonight was the rehearsal and tomorrow is the “big day.” It has me thinking about the significance of marriage in today’s culture.
Following is an insightful quote from Pastor David Holloway concerning the enduring nature of marriage (By the way, the good looking bride and groom pictured here are Angela’s cousin Leslie and her husband Charlie).
David Holloway is vicar of Jesmond Parish Church, Newcastle, England, and one of the founders of the Christian Institute, a charity which provides a biblical viewpoint on contemporary ethical and moral issues. Reinforced by government legislation and social attitudes, British society is increasingly anti-marriage. During a sermon in 2000 on Hebrews 13:4, Holloway called for a reversal of this trend, arguing that marriage is a structured relationship, a gift from God, and should be honored by all.
God is involved in a marriage . . . [M]arriage is something socially recognized and supported by society—at least that happens in healthy societies. Marriage is not [just] a “relationship”—that is a fatal flaw in modern thinking. Marriage is the structure . . . within which a lifelong relationship takes place. It is the marriage that enables the relationship to thrive. Relationships go up and down—that is the nature of human emotions. Marriage is a state of life that is there whatever the nature of the relationship. It is to under gird the relationship . . . Marriages don’t go up and down. Relationships do, but not marriages.1
Footnotes:
1 David Holloway, “Men, Women, and God,” Jesmond Parish Church Website, September 29, 2000,
