See also *gift of singleness; *Rapture.
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1978 Tomczak
Let’s Talk About Sex: A Straightforward Guide for Today’s Generation 98 : “Will I ever be married?” It’s a two-part query. “What is God’s will for my life now?” and then “Do I want God’s will?” [Some might say:] “But I have to hurry. I might become an old prune!” or “Me, a bachelor til the rapture!”
1984 Harvey
My Cope Runneth Over 184 : Joe, who says not to count on him to help increase the family numbers, insists he’ll remain a bachelor till the Rapture.
1989 Kirby
Dating: Guidelines from the Bible 137 : l have met many enthusiastic young Christians who once vowed that they would never marry but would remain a “celibate for Christ” or a “bachelor till the rapture!”
1995 Charisma and Christian Life XX. iss. 6–11 43 : “I’m single for a reason,” Johnson says. “God called me to serve as an example.” Johnson hasn’t taken a “bachelor ’til the rapture” vow. But he wants to demonstrate to thousands of young Christians that hormones don’t have to control their lives.
2004 baptistboard.com (13 Apr.) : This brings back bad memories of the years when I was single…. I was one of those BTR’s (bachelor till the rapture).
2005 Morley
Becoming a Woman of Spiritual Passion: Overcoming Challenges to Your Relationship with God 77 : I really didn’t know where this “bachelor till the rapture” stood anyway. He never told me that he loved me—that was reserved for whomever he would marry—if he was ever to marry.
2008 McCulley at “True Woman ’08” conference (Chicago, IL) (9–11 Oct.) : I know so many men who made these big proclamations, “I’m going to be a bachelor till the Rapture. I’m going to pursue God in my singleness,” and they’re married like six months later.
2011 abondservant.wordpress.com (30 Apr.) : I declared to the youth group and my accountability partners that I was going to be a “bachelor till the rapture!”
2011 richeeramblings.com (18 Nov.) : At that point I was “bachelor till the rapture” and wanted nothing to do with romantic relationships. Strictly friendship. But the Lord had different plans.
2013 johngunter.net (7 Jan.) : My heart in all of this is
not to state that I am a militant single person—a “bachelor till the rapture” so to speak. However, I do want to simple state that life can and is lived well as a single adult.
2013 Smith at
thegospelcoalition.org (14 Feb.) : When you feel the urge to make that cynical “bachelor till the rapture” joke, fight it. Fight the bitterness, the loneliness, perhaps even the despair. Fight for joy in the Savior.
2013 gospelofthekingdom.tumblr.com (11 Apr.) : “Has God called you to be celibate? You seem like a ‘Paul’ to me. How do you know when He calls you to be single?” … “First off, I’ll take that as a compliment, so thank you. I use to joke that I’m a bachelor till the rapture. But no, I don’t feel called to celibacy.”
With a little imagination, you might think of the expressions bachelor till the rapture and gift of singleness as some of the reversible sweatshirts of the Christianese lexicon. Both phrases can be used right-side-out to express a profound and genuinely joy-filled confidence in one’s God-given sexual purity. And, with a flick of the wrist, these terms can be turned inside-out and used as bitingly cynical complaints about how long God takes before he pairs men up with their future Proverbs 31 women and smoking hot wives.