Are you single? Middle-aged or older? A follower of Jesus? Then there is a great call before you – and me. A call to be singularly attractive!
No, this is not an invitation to invest in some cosmetic surgery. Nor am I giving you a good excuse to purchase some great new clothes, make-up or anything else that makes you look 10 years younger. It’s rather that there is an exciting invitation in the pages of Scripture encouraging us to show others how to live well for Christ as a single person.
You see, the Bible encourages older members of the congregation to be role models to others. Older women to younger women. Older men to younger men (Titus 2:1-8). And just as older married couples have an invaluable role in showing younger people what a privilege it is to be married. So older single people have an enormous role in showing others what a privilege it is to be single. Doing so is an essential part of equipping the next generation to grow up rejoicing in God whether He has given them the gift of marriage or the gift of singleness (1 Corinthians 7).
Now I don’t wish to be glib. There are, of course, challenges associated with being an older single person. It is inevitable that we sometimes think about relationships past and wonder ‘what if …’. There can be pain associated with not having the opportunity to have children. There are moments of loneliness. And in a relationship-obsessed culture it can be hard to refocus our minds on gospel truth rather than conventional wisdom (Romans 12:2). But there are joys and privileges too – not least the extra flexibility to be involved in a whole host of ministries. And if we genuinely believe God is sovereign and loving; if we truly accept that the Bible is correct when it says that singleness is good, then we need to show that in the way we live. And we need to deliberately flee from the temptation to become the next Bridget Jones (full of desperation for a partner), or Miss Havisham (full of the bitterness of relationship lost).
It isn’t an easy call. But it is a clear call. A call to be singularly attractive for Christ in our churches today.
