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TechnoratiNo less than one third of all minor children now live apart from their biological fathers – a statistic that usually indicates a social trauma like massive military action, famine, or a similar catastrophe. But this catastrophe was self-inflicted as Americans bought into a lifestyle and worldview of personal autonomy and individual self-fulfillment. If the isolated self is the most important unit of meaning, marriage is seen as an accessory at best, and as feminist Betty Friedan's "domestic captivity" at worst.
The data indicate that "40 percent of all children today are expected to spend some time in a cohabitating couple household during their growing up years." This is no longer an isolated phenomenon. Living as a child with a cohabitating couple is trending toward the norm.
The fallout is undeniable. Boys raised without fathers are more likely to be involved in crime, more likely to show developmental disabilities, more likely to resist all authority, and more likely to be sexually promiscuous. Anyone surprised? Parenthood without the commitment of marriage means that the parental role [especially the father's role] is always tentative and possibly temporary. How can children grow up with confidence and trust when their biological parents have no confidence in marriage and no trust in their mutual responsibilities for childrearing?
Secular Americans may share concern regarding these statistics and patterns, but Christians must respond with more than concern. Our own compromises have opened the door for many of these developments. Our lack of concern for the integrity of marriage, and our own accommodation to the new ideals of personal autonomy and self-fulfillment is observed by the world beyond the church.
The recovery of a marriage culture in secular America is a long shot. Given the long-term trends and the lack of a public consensus, nothing dramatic is likely to happen. When President Bush talks about his concern for the state of marriage in the nation, the cultural elite snickers.
The real question is whether the church will recover a marriage culture in our own sphere. This will require a recovery of resolve and conviction, and the re-assertion of a biblical concept of the church as the body of Christ, with individual members living in fellowship, discipline, and mutual accountability under the authority of God's Word. This means that, for Christian couples, our marriages are not our own private affairs, but crucial arenas for living out faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Just imagine how Christian credibility would be demonstrated when, against the trend of marriage decline in the secular culture, researchers would report that one group stands as an obvious exception – the followers of Jesus Christ. That would be a report sure to get the nation's attention.
This article was originally published on Monday, September 15, 2003 .
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R. Albert Mohler, Jr. is president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. For more articles and resources by Dr. Mohler, and for information on The Albert Mohler Program, a daily national radio program broadcast on the Salem Radio Network, go to www.albertmohler.com. For information on The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to www.sbts.edu. Send feedback to mail@albertmohler.com. Original Source: www.albertmohler.com.
