A friend was speaking from the front of the church hall during a business meeting. During her talk, she said that she was looking for a husband, and any help would be appreciated. From the back came a droll bass voice, “Shouldn’t you be looking for a single man?”
She and I have talked often about men. Of course we don’t want someone else’s husband! We’re waiting on the Lord’s choice. We want men with demonstrable skills in commitment and loyalty. But pickings are slim. Why is that?
Across America, two-thirds of church members (in any denomination) are women. The other third are youth or married men. Many don’t attend church regularly. So there’s not a large population of Christian single men. Wouldn’t it be great to market our beliefs and lifestyle to single men in an evangelism campaign directed at men? Think how the offering revenues would rise after their baptisms! Some megachurches have done just that, and that's why they have the prefix "mega" before "church."
Many men, looking for playmates instead of the Proverbs 31 virtuous woman, bewail the lack of “dateable” women (aged 20-39, athletic, slim, childless, and willing to compromise morals). “Man [particularly the male gender] looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD [and most women] looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV.
The heart of Mr. Right submitted wholly (and holy) to the Lord Jesus—that man is incredibly desirable. The intelligent, righteous, and moral man who commits himself to the ministry of the church and in the community—oh, be still my beating heart!
Mr. Right is described in Genesis 18:19 NIV: “For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about …what he has promised him.”
There are godly single people in both genders. Perhaps our focus should be less on finding the One Perfect Specimen, and more on bringing new people into our communities of faith, and by example and fellowship, developing their potential to be all that God has planned for them.
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