It’s 7:00 on a Friday night and the lobby is filling up fast. The women are dressed to the nines, sizing up the other women, trying to get a read on the “competition”, while the outnumbered men – looking a little awkward and uncomfortable themselves – are checking out the women. There’s a band starting up in the auditorium and the air is electric with expectation.
It’s not a rock concert. It’s a singles “Kickoff” event at a suburban church.
The newcomers have a hard time distinguishing between the pulsing bass and their own thrumming heartbeats. The seasoned pros practice looking nonchalant, bobbing their heads and tapping their fingers to the beat of the music. Everyone is nervous and hopeful.
A young widow fights the urge to turn around and run back to her car. A newly-divorced accountant wonders if this was such a good idea after the stressful day he just had. The single mom hopes the evening won’t end with her wishing she had stayed home with her preschooler. The never-married machinist hopes no one remembers the unintentional slur against “40 year old single guys” from the pulpit a few weeks ago. And the professional woman debates whether to tell the men she is in law enforcement or make something up, just for tonight.
There are people there with secrets they don’t want anyone to know and others with gaping emotional wounds. Most are just lonely and longing to be understood. And truth be told, all of them are hoping to find someone who will want to know them, value them, and make them whole.
The scene above plays out regularly, year after year, in churches nationwide: Singles looking to get out of being single, wanting to find someone with whom they can enjoy and share life. Many never realize they could be taking advantage of a remarkable opportunity for personal healing, meaningful community, and unique intimacy with Christ as a single, whether or not they eventually marry.
They are missing their chance to be “Whole-Hearted Singles”.
What if singleness was not just a life stage to get through on the way to something “better”, but a status of great significance to embrace, whether for a season or a lifetime?
Do you believe singles really can enjoy a deeply satisfying intimacy with Christ and a thrilling experience of the true community He wants for His followers?
Did you know there’s a Biblical basis for singleness that raises the value of singles and gives them equal status and significance in the eyes of God?
I’m writing a book about this with a seasoned pastor at my church. Your input – whether you are single or married – is more than welcome!
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Nothing beats the Bible when it comes to flawed and unlikely characters. Some were real oddballs; others had disadvantages that weren’t their fault. Here are just a few you’ll find throughout the Old and New Testaments (you can click on any name to read more of their story):
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