Barnabas Piper believes the American church has generally gotten better at ministering to people who are divorced but says there are still some key opportunities for growth. Piper shared his thoughts in a recent podcast in which he revealed ways God has worked in his own life through his experiences with divorce and remarriage.
“The church by and large—not across the board—has gotten better at compassion and grace and listening and understanding. So I’m grateful for that,” Piper said.
At the same time, Piper believes there is still a “kind of elephant-in-the room type of treatment of divorce.”
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Barnabas Piper is an assistant pastor at Immanuel Church in Nashville, Tennessee. He previously co-hosted “The Happy Rant” podcast with Ted Kluck and Ronnie Martin and is the author of several books, including “The Pastor’s Kid: What It’s Like and How to Help.”
Piper is the fourth child of John and Noël Piper. His father, John Piper, is an influential evangelical pastor who founded the ministry Desiring God and served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis for more than three decades. John Piper is the author of numerous books, including “Don’t Waste Your Life” and “Desiring God,” and addresses questions related to Christian life and theology on the “Ask Pastor John” podcast.
In a Jan. 30 conversation on “The Ryley Heppner Podcast,” Barnabas Piper spent some time explaining what it was like to grow up as the son of John Piper. Then, about halfway through their discussion, Heppner asked Piper to share his thoughts on how the church engages with people who are divorced.
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“I think divorce is something many Christians experience but don’t really feel free to talk about honestly,” Heppner said. “What do you think the church most misunderstands about divorce?”
Before answering the question, Piper offered “context,” explaining that he “got married just out of college” and was married for over 11 years before his marriage ended. “There’s no such thing as a simple divorce,” he said. “You know, there’s a lot of pieces that go into those things, but it came down to going in pretty decidedly different spiritual directions.”
“The Lord was getting ahold of my heart and my ex was going a different direction, as did our lives. There’s a lot more to it than that, but that’s the summation,” he said.
