Extended singleness is a reality that many, young and old, face today. God is not surprised by this. Rather, He has called his people to live in “such a time as this.” In such a time, the Church has a responsibility not only to recover and uphold the institution of marriage but to graciously help people live out their singleness in self-sacrificial faithfulness.

Americans today are getting married later in life than their parents or grandparents. As of 2022, the average age at which Americans get married is 28 for women and 30 for men. This is eight years later in life than the average bride and groom of the 1960s.  
As many have noted, today’s spike in singleness and single-person households is, in part, the result of a widespread cultural erosion of marriage, both inside and outside of the Church. Over the past 60 years, marriage has taken a social and cultural beating thanks to the legalization of no-fault divorce and abortion, the widespread use of birth control, the proliferation of easily accessible hook-up apps, and the casual dominance of pornography. These realities undermine the maturity, self-control, and responsibility required for stable and successful marriages. Whether or not an individual chooses to engage in these practices, they decrease everyone’s chances of finding a partner interested in or ready for marriage. 
In the wake of this cultural erosion, the Church has had to make necessary and prudential efforts to reinforce marriage and family life as the God-given norm, reaffirming the goodness of marriage and family life in its teaching, serving as a space for Christians who desire marriage to find a spouse, and offering support and recovery for those fighting the temptations of “free love.” However, in these efforts, the Church has often struggled in its approach to singles. While not intentionally excluding singles, the Church has often failed to intentionally include singles—whether young or old, never married or widows/widowers—and create space for them to participate and serve in the life of the Church apart from the pursuit of marriage. In the process, some churches have even given the impression that singleness is only a problem to be fixed, rather than a calling that some have for part or all of their lives.  
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In our day when the culture is vehemently biting back, we must stand firm all the more in the truths of the mysteries of God—the gospel. We must not compromise the message in order to appease society. The message we are called to herald is a message that is offensive to the world. This truth, however, should not hinder us from proclaiming it without fear, without anxiety, without compromise.

A person should think of us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of the mysteries of God. (1 Corinthians‬ ‭4:1‬ CSB)
The Bible speaks of the “mysteries of God.” But what does that mean? To put it simply, the mystery of God is His plan for all of history to culminate with setting up His eternal kingdom for us. In short, you could say, the “mystery of God” is the gospel.
And it’s a mystery because, for ages, it was hidden and not fully understood (Eph. 3:5). But God, through the sending of His Son, revealed this glorious plan to save His people through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah.
Furthermore, what’s incredible is God has made us, His people, “managers” of this mystery. He has called us, commanded us to manage His glorious gospel. So, the real question we ponder is this: What does it look like for us to “manage” the mystery of God?
Preach it with undying conviction.
In order to manage the gospel with biblical fidelity, we must do so with conviction. The truths of the gospel—of Christ’s righteous life, atoning death, and victorious resurrection—must grip our hearts and never let go.
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My aim in this series is for the Church to abandon the defeatism we have been force-fed by Hal Lindsey, Left Behind, David Jeremiah, and even many of our Amillennial brothers and to embrace the Biblical case for the ongoing total victory of Jesus Christ.

Announcing a Brand New Series
In the same way you cannot play hopscotch in San Francisco without stepping on a heroin needle, you also cannot play in the halls of modern Christianity without very quickly bumping into one of her many idols. Evangelicalism, instead of being known for a bold addiction to Jesus, a committed love for the church and saints, or a lionhearted courage to see the world transformed by His Gospel, the church has unfortunately been fixated on “Moscow Moods,” big entertainment driven churches, shallow carnal worship styles, influence peddling among pagans, appearing winsome to God-haters, and an ethic that transforms absolutely nothing. If anything, it is evangelicalism who is slowly being conformed to the culture instead of the other, more Biblical, way around.
Somewhere along the way, it seems clear to me we have lost our zeal, lost our salt, and lost our stones. There are, of course, many reasons for this that should and very well could be explored. Yet, while the lethargy and impotence of the Western Church in the modern world could be laid at the feet of a thousand idols, I believe the eschatological sewage known as dispensationalism is an excellent place to begin applying the Postmillennial wet wipes. In the same way a parent cleans the soiled diaper out of love and care for the child, we who love Christ’s Church must discard the soggy polluted garments that dispensationalism have filled with odious piles of theological skoobala.
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