The Good Anxiety: Undivided Devotion Text: 1 Corinthians 7:32-35
Introduction: The Gift and the Condition
We live in an age that is profoundly confused about singleness and marriage. On the one hand, our culture elevates radical autonomy and treats marriage as a disposable consumer choice, a temporary arrangement for personal fulfillment. On the other hand, within the church, we have sometimes reacted by idolizing marriage, treating it as the only legitimate state for a mature adult, and consequently treating our unmarried brothers and sisters with a sort of gentle pity, as though they were in a perpetual holding pattern, waiting for their real lives to begin.
The Apostle Paul, in this chapter, cuts straight through our modern confusions with a sharp, pastoral, and intensely practical word. He is not anti-marriage; far from it. He esteems it highly as a creation ordinance and a picture of Christ and the Church. But he is also not anti-singleness. He sees both states as callings from God, each with its own unique strategic advantages for the kingdom. But to understand him here, we must make a crucial distinction that our sentimental age often misses. It is the distinction between the gift of celibacy and the condition of being single. All who have the gift of celibacy are single, but not all who are single have the gift of celibacy. To confuse these two is like confusing a man who owns a boat with a man who has fallen overboard.
Paul is writing to a church in a pressure cooker. The "present distress" he mentions earlier in the chapter likely refers to a time of persecution or intense cultural hostility. In such a time, mobility and focus are key assets for the gospel. Paul's concern here is intensely practical: how can Christians best serve the Lord with maximum effectiveness and minimum distraction? He is not laying down a universal law that singleness is holier than marriage. He is providing Spirit-inspired wisdom for how different Christians, with different gifts, can best navigate their calling. He wants them, and us, to be free from the wrong kind of anxiety so that we can be consumed by the right kind of anxiety, a zealous concern for the things of the Lord.
The Text
But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his interests have been divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit. But one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. Now this I say for your own benefit, not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote propriety and undistracted devotion to the Lord.
(1 Corinthians 7:32-35 LSB)
Freedom from Distraction (v. 32a)
Paul begins by stating his pastoral motive:
"But I want you to be free from concern." (1 Corinthians 7:32a)
The word for "concern" or "anxiety" here is the same root word used later in the passage to describe the cares of both the married and the unmarried. Paul is not calling us to a life of careless apathy. He is calling us to exchange a lower, worldly set of anxieties for a higher, godly one. There are legitimate cares and concerns in this life. The issue is not whether you will have concerns, but which concerns will have you.
A married man is rightly concerned with how to love his wife, provide for his children, and manage his household. These are not sinful concerns; they are righteous duties. But they are, by their very nature, concerns of this world. They are earthly. They are time-consuming. They are, in a word, distracting. The single person, Paul argues, has the potential to be free from this particular set of distractions. The goal is not emptiness, but a holy preoccupation. He wants to free them from one thing for another thing.
The Two Anxieties (v. 32b-34)
Paul then lays out the two paths of concern, for men and for women.
"One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his interests have been divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit. But one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband." (1 Corinthians 7:32b-34 LSB)
Notice the parallel structure. Paul is not making a value judgment here, saying one is inherently sinful and the other is righteous. He is making a logistical observation. The married man's attention is necessarily divided. He has a duty to please the Lord, and he has a duty to please his wife. And because his wife is not yet glorified, and because he is not yet glorified, pleasing her is a "thing of the world." It involves mortgages, meals, schedules, and all the glorious, mundane friction of two sinners living under one roof. These are good things, but they are earthly things.
The unmarried man, on the other hand, has a singular focus. His line of sight to the Lord is, potentially, unobstructed. He can devote his time, his money, his emotional energy, and his schedule directly to the "things of the Lord" without having to coordinate with a spouse and family. This is the strategic advantage Paul is highlighting. A single church planter can pull up stakes and move to Ephesus on a moment's notice. A married church planter has to check with his wife, pack up the kids, sell the house, and find a new school.
The same principle applies to the woman. The unmarried woman or virgin can be concerned with being "holy both in body and spirit." Her life can be a consecrated offering to the Lord in a direct and undivided way. The married woman has a similar divided interest. She must be concerned with how to please her husband. Again, this is not a bad thing. It is her high and holy calling within the covenant of marriage. But it is a worldly concern. It involves managing a home, raising children, and navigating the complexities of her relationship with her husband.
But we must return to our initial distinction. This freedom from distraction is only true for the person who has the gift of celibacy. If a young man is single but does not have this gift, his unmarried state is not a source of undistracted devotion. It is a cauldron of temptation. He is not free from concern; he is consumed by the concern of how to handle his unmet desires. His singleness becomes a massive distraction in itself. For such a man, getting married is the path to less distraction, not more. By channeling his desires into the God-ordained covenant of marriage, he is freed from the constant, nagging distraction of unfulfilled longing and temptation. It is better to be distracted by the godly duties of pleasing a wife than to be distracted by the ungodly burnings of lust.
The Goal: Undistracted Devotion (v. 35)
Paul concludes by summarizing his purpose. He is not trying to trap them, but to help them.
"Now this I say for your own benefit, not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote propriety and undistracted devotion to the Lord." (1 Corinthians 7:35 LSB)
Paul is not laying down a new law or putting a "restraint" (literally, a noose) on them. This is not a command to be single. He is offering wisdom for their "own benefit." The goal is twofold: "propriety" and "undistracted devotion." Propriety refers to what is fitting, what is well-ordered. He wants their lives to be structured in a way that best suits their gifting and calling for the sake of the kingdom.
And the ultimate aim of that structure is "undistracted devotion to the Lord." The Greek here speaks of being able to "sit before" the Lord without being pulled away. It is a picture of serene, focused fellowship. This is the goal for all Christians, married or single. The question is not if we should be devoted, but how we can structure our lives to remove as many hindrances to that devotion as possible.
For the one with the gift of celibacy, remaining single is the path of wisdom. For the one without it, marriage is the path of wisdom. Both paths, when walked in faith, are ordered toward this same end: a life of fruitful, focused, and faithful service to King Jesus.
Conclusion: A Singular Focus in Every State
So what is the takeaway for us? It is this: God is the great Giver of gifts, and He distributes them according to His perfect wisdom. He gives the gift of marriage, and He gives the gift of celibacy. Neither is a consolation prize. Both are honorable callings, and both are platforms for gospel advance.
If you are single, the first question you must ask is not "how can I get married?" but rather, "has God given me the gift of celibacy?" If the answer is yes, then rejoice in your freedom. See your singleness not as a lack, but as a strategic deployment. Pour your undivided energy into the service of the church, the advance of the gospel, and the pursuit of holiness. You have an opportunity for a kind of focused devotion that your married friends can only envy.
If you are single and you know you do not have that gift, if you burn with a desire for marriage, then your singleness is not a gift, but an affliction. And like any affliction, you should receive it from God's hand, but you should also take the prescribed biblical remedy, which is to pursue marriage in a godly and faithful way. Do not pretend your affliction is a gift. That is a pious fraud that will only lead to greater distraction and misery.
And if you are married, do not read this passage and despair that you are consigned to a lower level of spirituality. Your marriage is your primary mission field. Your divided interests are your God-given duties. Pleasing your spouse, raising your children, managing your home, these are not distractions from your spiritual life; they are your spiritual life. They are the arena in which you will learn to die to self, to love like Christ, and to show the world a living picture of the gospel. Your task is to learn how to have a singular focus on Christ in the midst of your divided duties. It is to learn how to please the Lord by pleasing your spouse.
In the end, whether married or single, the call is the same. It is the call to take up our cross, to lose our life for His sake, and to fix our eyes on Jesus. He is the one who had the most undistracted devotion to the Father, a devotion that led Him to the cross for us. And it is only by His grace that any of us, in any state of life, can offer up our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service.