A Lesson from an Old Man in Congo

Yesterday I was listening to a radio program on human rights issues in Congo. There's a lady who works over there to discover and document warlords who are raping, murdering, and plundering to their hearts' desires. One of the stories she shared was horrifying. An old man was late getting to a village celebration. As he approached, he saw a group of men with guns surrounding all the villagers. He hid in the bushes to see what was going on. They made everyone take off their clothes and then separated the men and boys from the women and girls. They tied up the men and boy's hands and led them away into the jungle. The old man followed because he had to know what they were going to do. They made all the males lie face down and then proceeded to bash in their skulls with clubs. The old man returned to his village badly shaken and crying.

The next morning he went back to the spot. His wife had not come home that night. He was hoping against hope that she was alive. What he found was that those murderers had raped all the women and then killed them, too. He found his wife, age 68, dead with nothing but her skirt on. Here is what he said:

"They killed my old friend. Now I'm all alone."

Aside from all the atrocities and the anger I felt towards those murdering scum, there is a wonderful picture of marriage in those words. An old man in the jungles of Congo knew more about marriage and contentment than most of the men and women in the "civilized" world. We are living in the age of divorce. There was a time, years ago, when divorce was shameful. It brought shame to the whole family. It was a coward's way out, not to mention ungodly. It was because families were built around the Biblical model of marriage that they hung together "in good times and in bad."

Jesus said, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." (Matthew 19:4-6)

I am ONE FLESH with my wife. God joined us together. I have no right to separate this divine arrangement. She is my closest friend, and one day I hope to say she is my "old friend." We've seen some rocky times. Our relationship has been stressed and strained from time to time. But God expects us to stick it out.

God bless you guys,
Nathan