In my conversations with Arab brothers, we discuss many issues related to the family. We don't often discuss divorce and remarriage because it is not as prevalent in Arab culture as it is in western culture. I've been persuaded by Pastor John Piper here that there are actually no grounds for divorce, not even adultery. He says that the exemption clause of "sexual immorality" mentioned twice in Matthew is related to fornication during engagement rather than adultery during marriage. However, I'm open to interpret the relevant passages of Scripture differently if persuaded otherwise. (You can view Piper's longer version here which I don't completely agree with.) Also, what would qualify as "sexual immorality"? Does a believer have grounds for divorce if their spouse kisses someone else? What about if they look at pornography daily? Or once? Even though I interpret the Bible to say that neither adultery nor abuse is grounds for divorce, counseling and a redemptive separation would be needed until repentance is proved.
Would you pray for a born-again Egyptian friend who recently committed fornication but is engaged to another woman? I don't think that he is taking this as seriously as he should. Also, would you take a few minutes to pray for these brothers?
For the past few years, I have prayed (but not enough) for a tech-savvy believer who could turn something like this into an online assessment of Christ-like character for counselees. Would you prayerfully consider forwarding this idea to any tech-savvy believers you think could help?
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