I am a 23 year old guy. I was in a relationship with a girl in the same college. We started liking each other and even submitted to God before we took a decision to start our relationship. As time went by we decided to marry and also informed our parents who were interested to look into the matter. There was some problem related to caste even though both of us are from born again Christian families. As things grew serious the girls family summoned a prophet who prophesied about our relationship as not God’s will. We love each other very much and now are on the verge of separation due to this move taken by the girl’s family. I personally am deeply hurt and don’t know what to do in this case. Can this be a true cause of not marrying?!!
Dear son, I am sorry to hear about your situation. Tragically in India caste is playing a major role even among born again Christians. Truly it is of the devil. It is a pity that our people do not realize this.
You knew it very well all your life. Specially, if you are from a so-called lower caste and the girl is from a higher caste, you knew things would not materialize that easily. Knowing the Indian situation fully well, I think you did a foolish move to love a girl from another community.
And in India, love marriages are still looked at by the society as not normal. When some one opts for such a marriage, one should realize that he/she is challenging a well established culture which has its roots going back to 5000 years. The Indian society has not accepted love marriages as the pattern yet. Marriages in India are done by two families coming together in agreement about the future of their children and not merely by two young people deciding their future.
So, in opting for a love marriage you were challenging two highly rooted cultural cores of the Indian society. Naturally, you had to expect uneasy situations as you are now in.
But tragically, the girl’s family is withdrawing from the situation based on a so-called prophet and his predictions. It is a pity that born again Christians do not study the word to know for sure that we do NOT have apostles and prophets today in the church. Please read Eph 2:20 where it is clearly said that the church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone”.
When the Bible was not completed, God used the Apostles and prophets to communicate the mind of God. When the Bible was completed, the gifts of Apostles and prophets are no more in the church today. Today in the church we have Evangelists and Pastor-teachers. We do not read about Evangelists in the early church till we come to the 21st chapter of Acts (v.8). By that time the church had past its infancy. Compare Eph 4:11 to see the truth for yourself. “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers”,
Tragically, today’s prophets preach the deceit of their own heart as in the days of Jeremiah (Jer.23:26). So that is not a valid reason at all. The reason is cultural which the girl’s parents are hiding giving it a spiritual appearance. What a tragedy! You should have foreseen all these when you entered into a relationship with a girl from another community.
We need young believers in India who can challenge this caste feelings in the church, not by love marriages, but by arranged marriages. If two are compatible in all other respects, caste should not play a role in deciding marriages among born again Christians. May we pray that such a time will emerge in the Indian church soon. May the good Lord give you grace to get over the present predicament. God bless!
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