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I used to have some close friends. They were an older couple with a
son in Bible College. This son, before he came to Christ was a heavy
drug user, lived an immoral liftestyle. When he came to Christ, he
felt called to go into the ministry. Well, this couple sent their son
off to Bible college, paid for it, and had very high hopes that he
would be a man of God. They would always brag about him and how
disciplined and faithful he was. The expectations they had were that
he would bring many souls to Christ.
This young man was single, never had any previous marriages, and of
course wanted to meet someone and get married. Well, his parents
drilled into him the traditional MDR doctrine. As a result he would
screen and question thoroughly any girl he went out with to make sure
she wasn't married previously. There were a few close calls where he
actually did date one or two girls who were married previous, but the
parents would pray and fast to terminate the dating relationship,
terming these "divorced" women as "witches" leading their son astray.
Their son went all through college; no marriage. Preached for a few
years; no marriage. Went back to school; no marriage. Years went by;
loneliness settled in. He finally met a girl who he really loved.
How exactly it came about, I don't know. But it turned out this girl
was divorced with three children. Well, the parents, of course,
confronted the son and this "bewitced" girl, told the son he better
separate from her immediately. When the son refused, claiming he
really loved her, the father replied, "I hope you like burning in hell!"
The son, in tears, left his parents. And due to the fact his parents
drilled the traditional MDR doctrine into him, he has concluded there
is no hope for his walk with Christ. He did eventually marry this
girl. Now that he was the "husband of another man's wife," he had to
leave the ministry, and eventually left the Lord altogether. He has
said he just doesn't see how he can come back to Christ. In his
frustration and anger, he concentrates soley on his family now,
thinking that God has no interest in him or his home and stepchildren.
After all, in the sight of God he's an adulterer, right? What hope
does he have?
The mother of this young man weeps often. The father, however, is
determined that he will never reconcile with the son. Honestly, for
some reason I think the father likes it the way it is. I don't know why.
That is the sad story. Who knows what souls would have been won if
this young man had pursued Christ instead of thinking he had to run
and hide. Who knows what impact he would have made for God's kingdom.
The ironic thing is, the parents who condemned him so much were
themselves previously married before they met each other. They came
to Christ subsequent to their marriage, though, thus they assumed God
had recognized their union as bonified, but certainly not their son's.
It seems this older couple will die lonely and isolated. Their second
son died suddenly, a third son left them years ago, hooked on drugs
and hopelessness. Their only hope of a proud accomplishment was this
one son going into ministry. Alas, that, too, is crushed. For they
have closed the door to reconciliation to him, all in the name of the
traditional doctrine of MDR.
I wonder what will happen when they stand before the throne of God and
give an account. Will God hold them accountable, at least partially,
for the souls that would have been won had their son gone into the
work of God? Will the Lord hold them accountable for the destroyed
relationship their son has with the Lord now due to their stubborness
and closed mind?
Sherman Nobles called the traditional doctrine of MDR a "spider's
web," being made of "multiple strands of lies," each strand a "false
belief or misinterpretation of scripture." He said that these small
strands overlap and strenghten one another, "making the web a
formidable trap for an unsuspecting bird."
Satan is the spider, and this couple's boy was the bird. Before the
throne, somone will give an account for this perversion of God's
truth. That much, I am certain of.
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