John the Baptist said to Herod, “it is unlawful for you to have your brother’s wife”.

Was John unreasonable or unfair?  Was John only speaking to the generation of his day?  To listen to some lukewarm and cowardly churches today one would think so.  “How intolerant!”  “Didn’t John ever read Deuteronomy 24:1-4?”  “And who did Jesus think He was to honor John after he said such a judgmental  and intolerant thing?”  I’ll tell you who He was.  He was honest.

Jesus did not say it was OK for Christians to dump their spouses.  He did not say it was OK to make excuses for doing so or to defend doing so.  Jesus did not give churches or pastors the authority to lie and call “Holy Matrimony” something Jesus calls adultery.

But, that is exactly what pastors do when they set aside their honor and integrity and stand before the very congregation God trusted to their care and officiate a marriage for someone who has divorced his or her spouse without cause to marry someone else.

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