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07/17/2004: "A Glass, Darkly"

I am getting a little tired of 1 Corinthians 13 as a wedding text. It's mainly overexposure; it is dutifully read at every wedding I see, maybe ten a year, and the mandatory use of it bothers me. Especially since the text isn't about marriage or marital love. Out of its context, it can sound safe, sentimental, warm, romantic, but this is scripture, this is Paul, and it's part of a discussion of the excesses practiced by the early church, and some guidance for moderating these excesses. The passage makes no sense if it's purged of all its references to the spiritual-gifts contoversy, but in the context of a wedding all the references to tongues and prophecy seem like a lot of smoke and mirrors. The trouble is, the Bible is full of references to sordid and furtive sexual escapades, unhappy marriages and marriages of convenience, and what advice it offers on undertaking marriage sounds old-fashioned and patriarchal. Scripture doesn't hold romantic love in high esteem; that's a modern conceit. Jacob loved Rachel, and look at all the trouble they went through. It's inspiring, sure, but the story is kind of a downer for a wedding day recitation.