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Most Christians have their marriages officiated by ordained ministers who lay hands on the newly wedded couples and bless them.
The officiating minister quotes from the Bible and preaches to the couples as well as all the guests the mind of God concerning marriage.
Even before the day comes for the couples to exchange vows and rings to be officially married, they are made to undergo several months of counselling and medical examinations or checkups to ensure that they are suitable for each other.
After all, when God decided to give a wife to Adam, He considered suitability, stressing that, “…I will make him a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:18).
But should pastors be so much involved in the officiation of marriages? It appears that we Christian leaders are preoccupied with tasks we have not been divinely assigned.
It is difficult to find direct instructions from the Bible for ordained ministers to officiate weddings, perform burial services or naming ceremonies.
I am not saying, here, that it is sinful or evil for ministers to perform these tasks, but these are not what Christ Jesus calls His servants to do.
Now, do ministers really bless the marriages of Christian couples? What is the blessing and its effects? What is the difference between a Christian marriage blessed by ordained ministers and non-Christian marriages without pastoral blessings?
The scary statistics of divorce cases involving Christian marriages which were officiated and blessed by pastors throughout the world these days is worrying.
Does God refuse to answer the prayers of His ministers who are preoccupied with so much social work than the preaching of the gospel for people to repent of their sins?
There is no doubt that most weddings that are officiated by pastors involve partners who have already defiled the marriage bed for years or months by engaging in fornication.
Others refuse to faithfully resolve disagreements between them or their parents, use sinful methods to acquire resources for the ceremony and hide important personal information.
Thus, many couples receive curses instead of blessings because they begin their marital life on a sinful foundation.
Now, if the foundation of a Christian marriage is destroyed, what can the couples and the officiating ministers do?
By James Quansah
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Good observation but I have some concerns, what is wrong if a pastor counsels members living in fornication and they decide to do the right thing, are you saying he should not bless it?And I believe you know that the pastors are the spiritual fathers of their members and if they are getting married do you expect them not to show any involvement because the scripture is not explicit on their role concerning marriage? Anyway I don’t think God does not also hear them but the high rate of divorce is probably due to the place the couples give to Christ in their marriages. If the center can’t hold things will definitely fall apart
Thank you, man of God, for making time to read the article. Please, there is nothing wrong if a pastor counsels people living in fornication to repent. We do believe and understand that counselling is a ministry. And we did not say that pastors should not bless marriages. We only asked a question to seek opinions as to how pastors can bless a marriage which foundation is destroyed by fornication and other sins. Again, we did not say that pastors should not show involvement or support church members who are getting married. We should be there to rejoice with them as the Scripture says. Finally, whether or not God answers such prayers is a question we asked. Once again, thank you.