The bride wore a white gown, and a veil demurely covered her face. The groom slipped a ring on the bride’s finger. After a lavish reception, the newlyweds flew off on their honeymoon.
Yet the person attending the wedding found it all shallow and without meaning.
For example, the white wedding gown symbolizes the purity of the bride. And yet all in attendance knew that the bride and groom had lived together for three years.
The ceremony took place in a church, even though the two were agnostics.
When the minister invited the groom to kiss the bride, everybody laughed. They all knew he’d already slept with her, so it seemed silly for someone to be giving him permission to kiss her.
The couple promised to stay married “till death do us part,” but just in case, they had signed a binding pre-nuptial agreement.
As for the honeymoon – the traditional start of a couple’s sex life – it was a case of “been there, done that.”
Given that the average wedding costs around $30,000, why do people bother with all this? Why don’t people go to the courthouse and skip the rituals which are so obviously empty?
It’s because we’re not being honest with ourselves. We long for what God offers through sex, even though we have rejected it for our lives. When it comes time to marry, we search for the sacred, grasp for significance, and end up having to use the very symbols and rituals whose meanings we have rejected.
James Emery White. It’s a dilemma for pastors who want to lead others toward sexual purity. We’re thrilled when a cohabiting couple finally decides to “make it right” and yet we know many who stand before us don’t necessarily see that they’re setting something right that has been, up to that point, wrong.
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