Marriage As Ministry

“See your husband’s potential.” -Melanie Summey

One truth about marriage that has been on my mind recently is how marriage is ministry. My husband is my ministry to the world. I think we tend to think more easily about children in this way—we are more apt to unconditionally and sacrificially love them, to ponder their potential, in a way we really should be doing just as much for our spouse.

Lately I’ve been thinking about how the world will change because of D, because of his work in medicine and the church and as a father, and it’s an exciting thing. It’s exciting watching him go through a period of refining what he’s about in life, where he’s headed, in his training, his visions for the future, and his preparations for fatherhood.

I think about what an influential role I play. The oft-repeated (at least by us) adage from Tim Keller is true: everything about the world can be falling apart, but if your marriage is strong, you step out into the world in strength. Everything about the world can be going well, but if your marriage is weak, you step out into the world in weakness. I see that in us: the things I say affect him; my prayers for him are powerful. It always comes back to amaze me what a difference can be made by sheer dent of my belief and support.

There is some sort of mystery and power in this, in my influence upon the way D sees himself, thinks about what he can do. Some strange access I alone have to the construction of his personhood and being. It’s a marvelous and surprising thing to see it in action, to realize how content I would be just to see the world and kingdom changed through him.

Week Eighteen