DENNIS and ANN OUTRED, facilitators of Marriage Week in Australia, write that many nations, like Australia, are now reaping what they have sown – or not – into society when it comes to marriage…
Are we reaping what we have sowed – or rather not sowed? There is evidence that in nations – including Australia – that the church has not been sowing into marriage and the Lord’s design, plan and purpose for it.
A task that is of great importance to the church is to restore, preserve and support a Godly marriage culture – even though to many around us, marriage has lost its meaning.
PICTURE: Unsplash
“Christians should see marriage as being designed by the Creator and for His plan and purpose with the value of marriage not being taken from the world around us but through Scripture.”
“Revolutions” in our society – over such things as no-fault divorce, the separation of sex from marriage and so much more – over the last 20 plus years have brought “my rights” and “self” to the forefront.
With increased sexual freedom outside of marriage, marriage itself has lost respect and to some it seems to be just a legal contract that can be broken with ease. With children commonly being born outside of marriage, marriage has become a lifestyle option. These styles of living are portrayed as the “norm” in most of the media and entertainment industry.
Or, as Andreas J Kostenberger observes in God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation: “What until now has been considered a ‘normal’ family, made up of a father, a mother, and a number of children, has in recent years increasingly begun to be viewed as one among several options, which can no longer claim to be the only or even superior form of ordering human relationships. The Judeo-Christian view of marriage and the family with its roots in the Hebrew Scriptures has to a certain extent been replaced with a set of values that prizes human rights, self-fulfillment, and pragmatic utility on an individual and societal level. It can rightly be said that marriage and the family are institutions under seige in our world today, and that with marriage and the family, our very civilization is in crisis.”
Christians should see marriage as being designed by the Creator and for His plan and purpose with the value of marriage not being taken from the world around us but through Scripture.
For us, the record of creation and the first marriage (and the ‘fall’) is well known but worth repeating: “And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.” Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed. – Genesis 2:22-25 (NRSV)
That great Bible commentator Matthew Henry said this about verse 22: “The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.” What a beautiful picture he paints here – one which regrettably is not often seen.
Kostenberger also says within the church there is “lack of commitment to seriously engage the Bible as a whole”. And he observes, “evangelical Christianity has no shortage of Bible studies, media production, parachurch ministries, and the like. Yet, most Christians are woefully unaware of the deep biblical, theological, and spiritual foundations for marriage and the family that are central to the Christian tradition”.
“We see from Scripture that marriage, Gods’ way, is a covenantal relationship between a man and woman to live together in mutual love and respect for the glory of God. It is not about us, but about His kingdom.”
We see from Scripture that marriage, Gods’ way, is a covenantal relationship between a man and woman to live together in mutual love and respect for the glory of God. It is not about us, but about His kingdom. God created marriage and the family as the foundation unit of society – as we see in “The Great Commandment”.
We in the church are purposed to see transformation – the advancing of the kingdom through us all seeking to be more Christ like in our daily lives – and if we are married, through our marriages, and if blessed with children, then through our family. Salvations and ‘the equipping of the saints for their ministry’ are core to the church. With a growing and mobile population where the pace of life seemingly increases year-on-year, the church has an enormous task speaking out and being heard in the world, but speak out we must. Teaching, preaching, and, yes, when necessary, reproving also, on all areas of influence, from the Godly values of marriage, sex and sexuality through to what love really is so all can be equipped to live His way and are more able to resist worldly values.
We should not back away from speaking out Biblical principles relating to matters affecting Australia today. We need to be that “salt and light” (Matthew 5:13-16); we need to be authentic Christians and not, as it is said that Sir Weary Dunlop commented, “wimps in the pulpits and cowards in the pews”.
Dennis and Ann Outred are facilitators of Marriage Week in Australia. The next Marriage Week will be held on 9th to 15th September, 2018.
