Russell Moore:
This week on his television show Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson said a man would be morally justified to divorce his wife with Alzheimer’s disease in order to marry another woman. The dementia-riddled wife is, Robertson said, “not there” anymore. This is more than an embarrassment. This is more than cruelty. This is a repudiation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Few Christians take Robertson all that seriously anymore. Most roll their eyes, and shake their heads when he makes another outlandish comment (for instance, defending China’s brutal one-child abortion policy to identifying God’s judgment on specific actions in the September 11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina, or the Haiti earthquake). This is serious, though, because it points to an issue that is much bigger than Robertson.
His conclusion:
Sadly, many of our neighbors assume that when they hear the parade of cartoon characters we allow to speak for us, that they are hearing the gospel. They assume that when they see the giggling evangelist on the television screen, that they see Jesus. They assume that when they see the stadium political rallies to “take back America for Christ,” that they see Jesus. But Jesus isn’t there.
Jesus tells us he is present in the weak, the vulnerable, the useless. He is there in the least of these (Matt. 25:31-46). Somewhere out there right now, a man is wiping the drool from an 85 year-old woman who flinches because she think he’s a stranger. No television cameras are around. No politicians are seeking a meeting with them.
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5 comments:
What Pat Robertson is horribly offensive. However, I was greatly moved by a story done by CBS Sunday Morning not too long ago: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6601253n
My own personal experience with this comes from my grandparents. When my grandma's Altzheimer's became too violent and she was unable to recognize her family any more, my grandpa placed her in assisted living because he was unable to provide the proper care she needed.
I watched my grandpa struggle living on his own for years, not just because of the lack of companionship, but because he was now living on his own and having to do things like cooking that his wife had done for him for decades. As a result, he remarried less than a year after my grandma died.
My mind is definitely not settled on this, but I feel like saying to the non-Altzheimer's spouse that you cannot seek out companionship when your spouse's mind is gone is almost as harsh as when Pat Robertson says they are basically "dead".
Is there a third way that respects and loves and cares for the spouse with Altzheimer's and allows the non-affected spouse to fulfill their need for genuine companionship?
The link didn't take so I'll post it again:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6601253n
Robb,
Thanks for the comment. You highlight a great need for sure.
My grandpa died of A when I was 18. It is a horrible horrible disease.
Certainly there is a need for companionship and that should flow from family and church in horrible cases like these being discussed. The church needs to rally around those in their community who would be suffering so immensely through a tragedy like this. We are called to care for widows and in some ways the spouse of someone with A is very similar. Compassion of the highest order is required and the church should be the place where that is found.
But this is a completely different discussion than divorce.
Biblical marriage is ways less about our needs and way more about how we can meet the needs of our spouse. When that happens the beauty of marriage shines through with the brightness of the Gospel as we see that Christ was more fixated on God's glory and our need than his own needs for comfort and ease. Gaining our life comes through laying it down. Laying down our needs. He came not to be served but to serve. Our marriages should be reflective of that as we see from Eph. 5.
Pat answer? Maybe, but I promise you that our witness in this world will be way stronger from guys like the one below than from the advice of Pat.
Have you heard of Robert McQuilken? He left his job as a college president to take care of his wife with A.
You should watch this youtube -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6pX1phIqug
Z -
This Robertson exemplified a better way:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/februaryweb-only/2-9-11.0.html
I was out of town yesterday for work and when I got to the hotel I found his show. It was the first time I'd ever watched it...
Needless to say I won't be watching it again, unless I need a good controversial idea for a blog post!
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