How do you survive an unevenly yoked marriage, and if your marriage is unevenly yoked, can God yoke the relationship together?

Sincerely,
Just Surviving

Dear Just Surviving,

God says that we are ‘unevenly yoked’ when we deeply intertwine our life with an unbeliever (2 Cor 6:14).  A prime example of this is marriage.  There is no more intimate relationship on this planet than marriage (Gen 2:24), and when a Christian is married to a non-Christian, it can be extremely difficult.

If you are married to an unbeliever, things will be tough, but all things are possible through God (Lk 18:27).  Remember that your role is to be a light and sanctifying influence in your marriage (1 Cor 7:13-14).  It is your godly behavior that has the potential to lead your spouse to Christ.

Inversely, you must not let your spouse’s attitudes and priorities lead you away from the Lord.  Remember that your relationship with Christ comes first.  Stand firm in the faith (1 Cor 16:13).  Set your mind and purpose in your heart that you won’t skip church services (Heb 10:24-25), won’t compromise your morals for anyone, and you won’t let your love of Christ grow cold (Matt 24:12).  If you do that, the Lord will bless you, and your marriage will be blessed.

     A loudspeaker system produces "mechanical" music when sound is output through speakers (technically, sound waves generated by mechanical means, not vocal chords).  If a church accepts this form of mechanical music by synthesizing its singing through audio speakers, could it accept words produced and synthesized by a sound board?  What would the difference be?  Ultimately, the sound produced is mechanical, sound waves from an amplifier and not from the voice box.

Sincerely,
DJ

Dear DJ,

A loudspeaker system has nothing to do with the music being made – it simply amplifies it.  When a speaker system is used, it doesn’t make any sort of music; the saints still have to sing and make melody in their hearts (Col 3:16).  If the Christians weren’t singing, the speakers would simply produce silence.

A speaker system is no different then cupping your hands in front of your mouth to amplify the noise.  The singing is still the same, just amplified by modern technology.  However, if a piece of audio equipment is being used like an instrument to produce music on its own, that would be no different than using a piano or guitar.

     I have been reading your posts about deacons, and a recent situation that has come up at our church makes me think you might be able to help.  I am not an official deacon at our church.  However, I have been serving our elders by using my unique talents and abilities to perform several chores… some of which were done by previous deacons no longer alive.

At a recent elder/deacon meeting, I was told one deacon expressed concern that I was acting as a deacon.  He felt that I should discontinue the chores (website help, audio/visual support, etc.) until I am recognized as an official deacon.  They all agreed there wasn't anyone better qualified at handling those jobs, but there was apparently still much disagreement on what I could scripturally do, and nothing has come of it.  Can I serve the elders even though I'm not an official deacon, and really what is the difference, so I can explain it?  Thanks.

Sincerely,
Not A Deacon

Dear Not A Deacon,

The key to understanding this issue is to remember that all Christians are deacons, but not all Christians are elders’ deacons.  Let us explain.  Jesus was called a deacon to the Jews (Rom 15:8), the apostles were told to be deacons (Mk 9:35), and godly Phoebe was called a deacon to the church (Rom 16:27).  ‘Deacon’ just means ‘servant’.  Every Christian is to be a servant to the church… but only certain qualified men are allowed to be the type of servants that help the elders do their job.

The office of deacon (1 Tim 3:13) is a unique position designed to remove the burden of service from the elders, just like the benevolence situation in Acts 6 placed an added burden on the apostles (Acts 6:2-3).  A deacon, under the oversight of the eldership, has the authority to undertake tasks that normally would require an elder.  Deacons can deal with sensitive issues like benevolence, worship organization, counseling, and church finances that wouldn’t ever be shuffled off on a “normal” church member due to the task’s importance and delicate nature.  These are all areas that an elder would normally have to be very hands-on with, but thanks to deacons, the elders can breathe easier.

There is no hard and fast rule as to what jobs require a deacon and what jobs don’t, but the general principle is: if it requires an elder’s touch, then it can only be delegated to an “elder’s deacon”.

     What were king David’s good attributes, and what were his bad ones?

Sincerely,
Pros And Cons

Dear Pros And Cons,

That is the kind of question that is hard to answer because David, like all people, was a complicated man with a long list of strengths and weaknesses.  Since it would take a novel to describe the intricacies of David’s character, we will focus on what God says was David’s greatest strength and what He said was David’s greatest weakness.

David’s greatest strength was that He was a man after God’s own heart.  God specifically chose to make David king because of David’s attitude and faithfulness (1 Sam 13:14).  David didn’t always make good decisions, but he looked at the world through the eyes of a man that wanted to do what God said.  When David took on Goliath, he had courage because he saw Goliath’s immorality instead of Goliath’s size (1 Sam 17:45-47).  David sought to follow God’s laws and let God’s Will be his guide.

David’s greatest weakness was his sin with Bathsheba.  In 2 Sam 11, David yielded to temptation and slept with another man’s wife and then attempt to cover it up by having her husband killed.  David allowed his power as king to cloud his judgment, and he fell into a tangled web of his own creation.
However, in the end, David received forgiveness because when Nathan confronted him with his sin, David’s heart shone through.  Instead of denying the sin or killing the messenger, David uttered the humble words, “I have sinned against Jehovah.” (2 Sam 12:13)

     I see things; I think God is contacting me; He wants me to do something, but I don't know what.  Please, please answer this and tell me what to do!

Sincerely,
Motivated

Dear Motivated,

What you need to do is go to church.  The days of dreams and visions have passed.  In the past, God spoke to various people through dreams, visions, and prophecy, but today, He speaks to us through His Son, Jesus Christ (Heb 1:1-2).  Now that we have the complete and perfect Bible there is no need for God to give people individual dreams or visions (1 Cor 13:9-10).  It is through the Word of God that we learn how to live faithfully (Rom 10:17).

We are sure that the things you are seeing mean something, but they don’t mean anything supernatural or prophetic.  Our guess is that you have a great deal of internal struggle in your life, and this is affecting your vision, your mind, and everything else.  The fact that you are writing into this site tells us that you are trying to put the pieces together and get help.  One of the things that we do here at AskYourPreacher is try to connect people with a desire for answers (such as yourself) with congregations near them that can help them find long-term relief.  If you would like us to do that, just e-mail us back at askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org, and we will happily help in whatever way we can.