Lewisville, Texas,
October 14, 2009.
It is well chronicled
that 50% of Christian
couples end in divorce.
This is the same as the
unbelieving public.
According to Dr. Steven
B. DavidSon the
condition of marriage
relationships may be
directly related to how
many churches and
ministries pursue
converts, and affirm and
train members.
DavidSon, the nation’s
leading Christ-based
Counselor who is the
author of the
Christ-based Counseling
books and concepts for
depression, addictions
and numerous issues
facing believers has
written extensively
about Christian Marriage
during the last three
decades. He reveals,
“It is a critical error
to launch into any kind
of Christian related
instruction or
counseling without
assessing a persons
relationship with Christ
first. Terms such as
I’m a member of XYZ
Church, I’m a Christian,
or I’m born-again are
not sufficient. Recall,
believers in the First
Century possessed a
depth of relationship
and conviction that
could be measured by one
standard: ‘They were
willing to die
demonstrating their
belief.’ “
According to DavidSon,
Jesus, Himself set the
standard as found in
Mark 8:29-38 NASB.
DavidSon explains, “When
Jesus began repeatedly
teaching his disciples
about his impending
sufferings, death, and
resurrection, Peter
rebuked Jesus. However,
Peter would be shocked
to learn not only would
Jesus die, but Jesus
required the same degree
of sacrifice from His
followers. It’s so
important to note that
Jesus said this to the
disciples and all the
others. The text
states, ‘And He
summoned the multitude
with His disciples, and
said to them, If anyone
wishes to come after Me,
let him deny himself,
and take up his cross,
and follow Me (Mark
8:34).’ Jesus
continues with a
profound paradoxical
truth, ‘if you try to
save your life, you’ll
lose your life, but if
you’ll lose your life
for his sake, you’ll
find it. Finally, Jesus
emphatically adds, ‘what
does it profit a person
to gain the whole world
and lose his soul?’”
DavidSon identifies the
principal problem as
what he calls,
Quick-sale
Christianity. The term
refers to making
something so cheap, it
will be readily sold.
He’s found that
employing quick-sale
evangelistic and
membership approaches
without requiring
persons to demonstrate
their faith has filled
church rolls with
Quick-Sale Christians.
DavidSon
continues, “Mark 4:24 is
littered with verbs in
the imperative mood.
Clauses like deny
himself, take up his
cross, and follow Me are
commands. I ask,
typically, what’s the
cross bearing
requirements of the
local church? And on a
personal level, what’s
the typical
‘Christian’s’ service
demonstration of
commitment to Jesus
Christ? Clearly, the
Apostle Paul illustrated
that salvation cannot be
obtained by works.
However, Paul’s words
were for people who were
works-for-salvation-driven.
They did not have a
problem with service.
He never intended for
us to quick-sale our
faith with verses such
as Ephesians 2:8-9,
Romans 10:8-12 and
similar texts. People
were committing their
lives and dying for
Jesus before any of the
typical evangelistic
texts existed.
Can you imagine arming
a tyrannical ‘Christian’
husband with a principle
that his wife is to be
submissive? Can you
fathom informing a
rebellious ‘Christian’
wife that her husband
must be so sacrificial
as to be willing to die
for her. I’ve witnessed
way too many examples
over thirty years of
ministry of men and
women devastated by a
‘Christian’ spouse who
grossly-abused Christian
marriage principles. “
DavidSon’s national
organization, A3CEES
(A-three-sees) has a
special web-video
presentation on the
topic and a course-study
at
christbasedcounseling.org.
