It is good to be single. 

As Barry Danylak explores in his book, Redeeming Singleness, people in the Old Testament had to marry to have physical offspring.  Offspring was necessary for the coming Messiah, and was closely linked to blessings.  But now the Messiah has come, and our blessings are found in him.  Marriage is no longer necessary.  We have the option to remain single, and it is a good option.

Paul writes in I Corinthians 7:8 – “To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am.”  It is good to remain single like Paul.  Jesus too, the only perfect human being, was single.  It is good to be single.

Of course it is also good to marry.  Paul writes in verses 27-28 – “Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife.  But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned.”  It is okay to be married.  It is okay to be single.  Both are good options. 

We all need to hear this, for the following reasons:

1. It is common, especially for young singles, to hear on a regular basis certain questions and comments, such as:  “Have you met someone yet?”  “You mean you’re not married yet!  What are you waiting for?”  With numerous variations well-meaning married folks assume single people have to marry, and load essentially unbiblical expectations on them.  Instead married folks should affirm the single person’s current situation as good.  If the single person marries that will be good too, but in the meantime, it is good to be single.
2. It is entirely possible (and maybe common?) for churches to treat single people as second class citizens.  Rather than incorporate them into the life of the church, we can relegate them to a singles ministry.  Now there is nothing wrong with singles getting together, but they need to be incorporated into the rest of the church.  There are more important things in the Kingdom than marital status.  Beyond church interactions, is the basic attitude that one can find towards singles.  The idea seems to be that singles need to grow up and get married.  In other words, single people by definition are immature.  Especially younger singles may be immature, but getting married hardly makes one suddenly mature.  It is good to be single.  It is good to be married.  There are no second class citizens in God’s Kingdom.  Let’s make sure we treat each other that way.
3. Singles need to hear that it is good to be single.  Beyond unbiblical church expectations and attitudes, there is the reality of our culture.  Movies, TV, even commercials often suggest that you should have that special someone, though getting married has become a secondary issue.  The classic movie plot remains boy meets girl and they fall in love.  Music is all about romantic love.  Sex is apparently what life is about.  And in the noise of our culture, single folks need to hear again and again – it is good to be single.  There is much more to life than romance and sex.  You are a whole person without a spouse.  Jesus was single.  It is good to be single.

It is good to be single.  Yes, there are some challenges (married folks have challenges too), but there are also some benefits.  We will look at these in upcoming posts….