7.03.2009

marriage and the world.

read this article from time magazine.

it's refreshing to see such an opinion in mainstream media. not that marriage isn't a mainstream idea - it is. we should know this by what is said by the opponents of gay marriage - which is a majority of the country. but what comes out of their mouths about the sanctity of marriage usually sounds like a joke, since their lives do not echo their words.

more than 50% of marriages in the country end in divorce. many more than that either choose to never get married, or if they do, have affairs. and yet more than 50% of people are against allowing gay marriage because marriage is holy, and is meant to be between one man and one woman.

it's sad to be living in a world that is so broken. marriage IS important. it's important for stability, for security, and for raising up the next generation. it's important for teaching our children how to relate to other people, for teaching them their inherent worth as individuals, and for giving them a solid foundation in the midst of a hundred other things that are changing.

God created marriage because it is good. why should we be surprised though, that people in a fallen world are unable to maintain the beauty, sanctity, peace and health of a marriage? we can talk all day about how beneficial marriage is, or how wrong homosexuality or abortion, or anything number of things are. will this change anything? people in this country have one set of ideals, and live in a way that just doesn't jive with those ideals. what people need is healing. people need to be made into new creations through the power of Jesus Christ, and THEN we can talk about marriage and sexuality and life. without this power, society will continue to crumble, to go against what is good and right. as Christians, we ought to be focusing on loving the world into healing through Jesus, rather than telling them what is right and what is wrong, because this is what will truly make a difference.

in the meantime, though, it's good to see society, while in the middle of a moral collapse, still recognizes marriage as important and necessary. it would be even better if society lived it. but we need Jesus for that.

2 comments:

  1. Jillian, I was just thinking about this the other day. No lie. How can Christians go around saying that gay marriage destroys the sanctity of marriage, when in reality, the fact that the church has a higher divorce rate than the 'secular' world is the real cause for its destruction.
    Good points. You're awesome. :)
    -Emilee Foxworthy

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  2. I think you made a good point that people DO need healing and need a new chance at life through Jesus. BUT, sin and a higher standard of living (that "we all fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23 and that "the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life" Romans 6:23)needs to be addressed first because if people don't realize they need Jesus because of the sin part, then Jesus doesn't need to play the part of Saviour.

    I think that we can't go on our own individual morale but we can most certainly use the Bible and it is very clear that there is a higher standard of people to live than in sin. If we do love people, we will desperately not want them to live in sin because we know that sin destroys people. So of course, I'm not going to sit and point at people's lives and say what's wrong with them but if my motive is love, I most certainly will want to help anyone seek Jesus for that new life...and if that means posing questions or asking people if they think that is God's best, then I'm going to do that. But that sin has to be addressed first...and unfortunately, we havea lot of people that do it for us that misrepresent us Christians.

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