Kirk Franklin Slams Western Christianity for Weaponizing Marriage
Kirk Franklin Slams Western Christianity For Weaponizing Marriage
Source: Mindy Small / Getty
Kirk Franklin is offering his two cents on marriage saying the institution has been weaponized in Western Christianity.
In an appearance on Cam Newton’s Funky Friday podcast, Franklin takes the church to task over the pressures for congregants to be married.
“It’s very much that ‘You living in sin, you need to get married,’ without realizing that marriage doesn’t fix sin,” he said.
Franklin also said there’s pressure to be married from other external factors such as family.
“Don’t be no 30-35 year old single Black woman and go to the family reunion,” he said. “All the older women are gonna do nothing but they gonna look at you and wonder and question you and challenge you. ‘Why you not married?’”
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Referencing his own marriage to his wife Tammy, the 54-year-old went on to say religious teachings set them off on a rocky path at first and it’s important to harness your personal relationship with the Lord and don’t let the culture of Christianity determine the life God wants for you.
He told Newton he believes messages in the Bible have been weaponized in order to manipulate Christians into adopting a point of view in line with man that isn’t of the Lord.
“How we superspiritualize these messages: ‘He that findeth a wife, findeth a good thing,’” he said. “But Paul also said, ‘I wish some of you were like me. I wish some of you could be single because some of you could be even more useful in the kingdom if you were single.’ Now marriage is a good thing … ‘But marriage is a necessary distraction.’”
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Franklin went on to discuss how he’s had friends who have been barred from ministry because of their relationship status. If they were single, they weren’t allowed to mentor the youth or serve the church in other ways. As a result, he said people quickly wed thinking they’re doing what God wants them to do, but instead they’re doing what man wants. Franklin said this doesn’t have to be the case, because if these marriages fail and people seek out a divorce, he said they are crucified for their decision.
“You can be single and be used by God,” he said. “You can be single and have purpose. Being married is not a prerequisite for God’s hand on your life.”
He underscored his marriage point by encouraging Christians to reject dysfunctional messages in favor of receiving messages from God because your relationship with Him is what truly matters.
Watch the interview here:
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Kirk Franklin Slams Western Christianity For Weaponizing Marriage was originally published on elev8.com
