P is for Celibacy

We had a meeting for the celibates in the church recently, several people talked it was well inspiring. When I thought back over it I realised a lot of the stuff shared, and a lot of the stuff that inspires me, also happens to begin with P. So here it is.... P for celibacy

Purpose
Celibates are a people with a purpose, which is to build the Kingdom of God. As one person put it, their call is to “populate heaven , not earth”. The celibate man or woman is a spiritual parent, teaching and training those who are younger in their faith.

Passion
Celibates are passionate. They see the Kingdom of God and choose to put it above their highest joy. They are prepared to renounce “normal” and “acceptable” things for the sake of something higher/bigger. Think about sports stars, they are passionate about what they do, they have to train and discipline themselves to achieve their goal, likewise celibates choose to make the sacrifice to gain something they could not gain any other way

Path
Celibacy is not an aim or a goal in itself, it is the path we are on. Celibacy shapes your character, it gives you the tools for life.

People
Celibacy is about people. Because we choose to stay single does not mean we will stay isolated and cut off from people. A celibate is free to give themselves in a variety of friendships that a maried person cannot. (for example, when we have a visitor stay for the weekend they share a room with the other single folk). A celibate has chosen not to belong to one particular person, in order to belong to everyone (eek- that's well hard!)

Purity
Obviously the aim of celibacy is to be pure, to be holy in body and spirit. Not that being married means you are impure 'cos that is a different kind of purity. A celibate does however choose to set themselves aside to be dovoted to God in a particular way.

Prophetic
In heaven we will all be celibate. Jesus taught us to pray “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” and celibacy is one way to do that, to prophetically show the life of heaven on earth. It is not the only way to do this, but a pretty good way to try to show people now something of the single-hearted worship of God that there will be in heaven.

Pioneering
Celibates are people without the ties that natural family life brings, so they are people who are free to pioneer- to try new things and go new places for the sake of the gospel. (Again, not an exlusivly celibate thing, but try moving to a new area with kids in school...)