Marching One by One
Dave Faust
When the saints go marching in, they don't all march two by two. More than one-third of all adults in the U.S.A. are either widowed, divorced, separated, or have never married, and in several large cities, singles make up more than half of the adult population. All of us who are married were single at one time, and many of us will be again when a spouse precedes us in death.
How can the church minister to singles? How sensitive are we to the needs of the single saints among us? While "marriage should be honored by all" (Hebrews 13:4), singleness can be an honorable state as well, providing opportunities for undistracted service to the Lord (1 Corinthians 7:32-35).
Singles need the same things married folks need from us: friendship, hospitality, prayers, respect. Christian singles appreciate it when churches include them in our planning and address their needs in our teaching. While it's appropriate for churches to be "family friendly" and to target families for outreach, let's make sure we don't overlook the many reachable singles who need Christ too.
The Lord wants all of his saints to keep marching in—including people who march one by one.
This column first appeared in The Lookout on Oct 12, 1997.
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