And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to divorce her secretly.
-Matthew 1:19, NASB (footnote alternate translation used)
Divorce Shame Evil!
When Christian leaders rail against divorce under all circumstances, they are engaging in an evil practice of which they may not be aware. They may not see how their words are communicating a lie about God.
The lie says,
If you are divorced, you are cut off from God as well as your former spouse regardless of circumstances.
This is simply false.
God’s word describes Joseph as “righteous” in deciding to divorce Mary in light of what normally would have meant she had been sexually unfaithful to him.
What makes this lie especially evil is how it compounds the suffering of divorced faithful spouses. For those of us left by cheating spouses, we are hit again with the pain that God left us as well.
That God left us when the cheater discarded us is a lie, but it still stings that other Christians would think that about us in this difficult time.
The truth is God stands with faithful spouses divorced or not. He does not abandoned us in such a vulnerable state. God is just even if those who go by His Name are not.
Righteous reasons exist to divorce and cheating is one of those.
God did not shame Joseph in the Bible, nor do I believe God does you, if you so choose.
