You’ve probably heard about the couple who recently were married inside a Taco Bell restaurant. Since they didn’t have a church to call home, they tied the knot where they frequently hang out. No, they didn’t use the drive-through, but it might have crossed their minds. Guests to their big day seemed content as they ordered their reception meal from Taco Bell’s menu. Different, but according to the laws of the state where they live, they’re married.

“Drive-through style” pretty well describes the way things have been in South Korea until recently. Before June of 2008 couples could file for divorce for a fee equivalent to only a few dollars, and be handed the official termination papers within an hour. Judges complained that their busiest days were Mondays. Weekend arguments spilled over into quick decisions to end the marriages.

As of June, however, couples with children now have to wait for three months for their divorces to become official. Those without children must wait a month. Already a significant turnaround has been seen, according to a story from Reuters. The number of couples canceling their petitions to divorce has increased, and the number actually divorcing has dropped.

God’s counsel on the subject of marriage sounds harsh to modern ears. Malachi stated it clearly: “For the Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one’s garment with violence” (Malachi 2:16). Why, you might ask, would God hate divorce? Perhaps it’s because God loves people. He wants to spare us the pain of ripping apart intimate relationships.

Jesus confirmed this heavenly view of the seriousness of the marriage vow: “So then, they [husband and wife] are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6). Three verses later Jesus would state the only exception to this high standard: sexual unfaithfulness on the part of one of the spouses. Marriage is a sacred vow.

You don’t have to look very far to find people whose lives have been deeply wounded by divorce. Scars that don’t disappear are carried by people who didn’t want their marriages to end. Selfishness, however, leads many to abandon the vows they once spoke, leaving pain and grief in their wake.

I once wondered about a preacher’s sermon upon hearing its title: “The Time To Get A Divorce”. It struck me as strange that a man who preaches from the Bible would encourage any circumstance in which to dissolve one’s marriage. When I heard his point, though, I understood. The time to get a divorce, he said, was before you get married.

I applaud legislators in South Korea for changing this law. Many people rush into lifelong decisions and later regret what they’ve done. That applies to forming marriages just as it does to breaking them apart. Decisions like these require much time and help from above.

If we take seriously what God has said on the subject of marriage, we’ll approach our own marital decisions with a great deal more sobriety. We’ll follow admonitions like this one: “Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband” (Ephesians 5:33).

Timothy D. Hall

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