This is the first of two
extended lines of thought that wouldn’t fit conveniently into my post from two days ago.
You may remember that one: John Piper was giving advice to a single mother who wondered if she should be looking for a husband.
A couple of common
evangelical catchphrases were bandied around in the exchange and caught my
attention. First, Piper referred to the “gift of singleness”. Later, the young
woman declared she did not feel “called to marriage”. You have probably heard
people say things like that. You may have said them yourself.
Both phrases
sorta-kinda employ the language of the New Testament, but both do it in ways
that can mislead us if we’re not paying attention to the way they are used.