On a recent Sunday, those worshipping at CrossPoint Community Church were encouraged to text in their questions and doubts during Matt’s message.  Some were answered “live.”  The best of the rest will be answered here.

TEXT: Pastor Matt, can two people of different faiths - a Christian and a Jehovah’s Witness - have a successful marriage?

Well, it all depends on how you define “success.”

If success is a husband and wife who deeply love one another, strive to meet each other’s needs, and build a happy home with well-behaved children then yes, two people of different faiths can be very successful.

However, if success includes having a shared peace of mind in knowing that you’ll spend eternity together; if it means raising your children to walk in step with you and your spouse in a common system of beliefs, thus teaching them the importance of being “one” in all things; and if it involves having your spiritual life be a mutual source of joy and support, then in all honesty the answer is “no.”

It’s one thing for a husband and wife who come from different Christian backgrounds - say, she’s a Methodist and you were raised Baptist - to make it work.  At least you’re both under the umbrella of Christianity, at least, at it’s core you share the same religion.

However, when it comes to a Christian and a Jehovah’s Witness we’re talking two different faiths altogether with two drastically different understandings of who Jesus is, of how one is made right with the Father in Heaven, and even different confessions concerning what happens to you at the moment of death.  If both take their respective faiths seriously then they’ll undoubtedly not just know there are differences but they will experience some serious friction.

God’s desire is for husbands and wives to be one - not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually.  And when a husband and wife do not share the same beliefs they can still be happy, sure.  They can still do very well, but there is a serious stumbling block to truly being “one.”

Think about it, our faith in Jesus is more than simply something we talk about on Sundays.  God’s desire is for it to become the lens through which we view every aspect of life.

As many heartbroken husbands and wives know all too well, when one spouse doesn’t believe, or believes something different, the other spouse is usually forced to compromise in some way.  They either have to compromise in marriage, believing that their spouse is playing for the wrong team and work tirelessly through prayer and patience to introduce them to Jesus or they have to compromise in their beliefs, watering down the exlcusive claims of their faith and the need for salvation in order to ease their worries about where their husband or wife is headed.  Sadly, most end up choosing the second one.

My heart goes out for those in this and similar situations.  It’s a difficult path to walk.  There is no quick answer or easy fix.  The best advice I have is to follow the command of scripture - to pray earnestly for your spouse and to speak the truth in love.  Openly share your truthful concerns about their beliefs - or lack there of - and lovingly model for them a life lived in devotion to the one true God. (Eph. 4:15; 1 Cor. 7:14)