God Hates Divorce but He Gave Us a Remedy, Says 'When Divorce Is Right' Author, Pastor J. Bruce Sofia
The author of the book When Divorce Is Right, Pastor J. Bruce Sofia, offered honest, practical remarks on divorce, including Scriptural reasons to end a marriage and what God thinks of the decision.
When Divorce Is Right is Sofia's latest book in the Hijacked Life – Rescue Your Dream series, in which the pastor lists three reasons found in the Bible as grounds for divorce: adultery, abandonment, and the hijacking of God's call. Explaining more about the three reasons for divorce, Sofia pointed out that both infidelity and abandonment cause disruption to an individual's calling and/or their walk with God.
"The Bible is the final authority on life, faith, and practice – bottom line, and when we address divorce, we look at reasons based on Scriptural grounds," Sofia explained to The Christian Post. "Hijacking of the call is also the cornerstone for the other two reasons – when abandonment or infidelity take place, how can you fulfill your call? Your whole life is poured into that spouse who is not faithful."
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The pastor of New Jersey's Gloucester County Community Church went on to assert that while God sometimes commands divorce, He hates divorce. Nevertheless, divorced Christians can still find help, hope, healing, and restoration in the church.
"God is love, and He is the ultimate and perfect picture of what love is, so when divorce takes place, it fractures who God is – divorce fractures His image," said Sofia. "God is going to naturally hate that. He hates sin, but He gave us a remedy. He hates divorce, but it doesn't mean He holds back a remedy or reconciliation for those who have divorced."
Sofia, who also penned Hope Beyond Suicide, felt compelled to write When Divorce Is Right since "the church is not immune" to statistics today that suggest one in every two marriages will end in divorce. Also, after discovering the Christian community's reluctance to discuss divorce, Sofia decided to tackle the subject head-on.
"We contacted some major churches of all denominations; I don't want to name any one church, but they all had distributing houses and they wouldn't touch [When Divorce Is Right]," revealed the pastor. "The Christian community runs from divorce, they are scared to death of it, but that's why we wrote it."
Consequently, amid confusion about divorce and overwhelming feelings of guilt, Sofia said countless Christians feel unwelcome in the church after ending their marriages in divorce.
"We live in a broken culture that God loves," added the pastor, fighting back tears. "I'm getting emotional because I deal with it as a pastor all the time. If we don't offer the broken world a remedy… The church is a hospital, if we don't offer them healing, where are they going to turn?"
Although Sofia focuses on divorce in his latest book, the author also shared tips for keeping a healthy marriage, citing his own church's marriage courses such as The Art of Marriage.
"Oftentimes, people won't talk about issues, I think these classes offer what makes a good marriage," said the author. "They include assignments and homework, you have to dig deep and remove the mask, it's not easy, and sometimes very painful. No pain, no gain."
When Divorce Is Right is available at Christian bookstores as well as on Amazon.com.
