As author and speaker Lee Strobel tells it, someone once came between him and his wife, Leslie, that almost destroyed their marriage. It wasn’t a co-worker or an old boyfriend.
It was Jesus Christ.
Leslie had become a Christian. Lee remained a staunch atheist.
Their worldviews were diametrically opposed to one another. The friction that created is why God gave us the sort of wisdom found in 2 Corinthians 6:14, which says, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.”
Yokes were heavy wooden implements that were fitted over the necks of two animals, so they could pull a plow together. If the animals were the same type and size, they could pull in the same direction, as one. But if they were mismatched – say a horse and an oxen – one might pull at a slower or quicker pace or want to go in a different direction altogether.
Marrying someone who does not share our faith in Jesus Christ is no casual affair. Disagreeing between chocolate and vanilla ice cream is a relational speed bump. Disagreeing about the very foundation of life and the answers for death itself can be a mountain.
Some, like Leslie, become unequally yoked after marriage. What then? How can individuals handle their faith in ways that won’t drive a wedge through the heart of their marriage or send them spiraling toward divorce?
Over the next couple of programs, we’ll be listening to a message from Lee Strobel that’ll be of help to anyone who is in a spiritual mismatch. He’ll tell us how Leslie conducted herself in the weeks and months after giving her heart to Christ and how her attitude and behavior played a significant role in convincing Lee that the God of the Bible she believed in was real and that He loved Lee just as much as He loved Leslie.
It’s a great story you’ll want to hear.
Lee will also share some great advice you’ll find helpful whether you became a Christian before or after you got married, or whether you’re single and dating or building a romantic relationship. He and Leslie will answer several questions that may be on your mind:
- Is it okay to leave my marriage if my spouse is unwilling to consider a relationship with God?
- How can I find hope in the midst of such a difficult journey?
- What role does a supportive community of other believers play in offering me hope?
- I’m single. Should I date people who aren’t Christians?
- Both my spouse and I are believers, but we disagree about how best to approach a relationship with God. How should we reconcile those differences?
- How can our spiritual differences affect our children and what can I do about it?
Tune in today and tomorrow for “Surviving a Spiritual Mismatch” on your local radio station, online, or on our free phone app.
Lee Strobel is a former award-winning legal editor of The Chicago Tribune and is a New York Times best-selling author of more than twenty books. He serves as Professor of Christian Thought at Houston Baptist University. His book “The Case for Christ,” recounting Lee’s investigative journey from atheism to faith, has been made into a motion picture opening in theaters nationwide tomorrow, April 7 (check Focus on the Family’s PluggedIn for reviews tomorrow).
Leslie Strobel has been involved in women’s ministries and one-on-one mentoring in the churches where she and Lee have served. She is co-author, with Lee, of the book “Spiritual Mismatch: Hope for Christians Married to Someone Who Doesn’t Know God.”
You can get that book for a gift of any amount when you call us at 1-800-A-Family (800-232-6459).
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