I am a numbers guy. Whether it is sports stats, surveys, financial, etc., I like numbers. To show you just how much of a geek I am, I receive regular emails from the Barna Group, a Christian research company, about recent survey findings. Today I received just such an email.
The research that they highlighted in today's email was regarding positive and negative contributions made by Christians in America. While there were many interesting findings, the one that I wanted to focus on today is this; "just 6% (of respondents) mentioned positive contributions by the Christian faith that related to marriage." Now we must keep in mind that survey respondents were asked an open ended question about positive contributions of the Christian faith. I hope that if they had been asked specifically about marriage that more people would have responded favorably.
However, looking at "Christian marriages" in our churches today, is it really much of a surprise that people don't feel that Christianity has had a positive contribution on marriage? After all, Christian marriages have essentially the same divorce rate as non-Christian marriages and Christian marriages seem to be just as susceptible to infidelity. Where are we going wrong?
Well, first of all, marriage is hard. You put two people together that are inherently selfish and you are bound to have some problems. So we just need to work harder, right? Well, yes, I think we do need to work hard, however, that doesn't resolve the issue. This is going to sound cliche from a pastor, but the answer to making marriage work is trusting and following Jesus. Have to love Jesus with all that we have and all that we are and if we do that, we will love our spouse like we are supposed to as well.
For our faith to make a positive contribution to marriage in America, it must first make a difference in our own marriages. If we submit to Jesus, we will be able to have the marriage that Christ wants for us and then we will make a positive contribution to marriage in America.
We cannot make a positive impact on American anything unless we allow ourselves to be transformed by Christ. Too many are just playing at church and then going home to be there "old" selves. Our whole being must be saved, not just our public personna.
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