“Evangelical Christians are gravely concerned about the family, and this is good and necessary. But our credibility on the issue of marriage is significantly discounted by our acceptance of divorce. To our shame, the culture war is not the only place that an honest confrontation with the divorce culture is missing. Divorce is now the scandal of the evangelical conscience.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
You may read the entire piece at: http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/09/30/divorce-the-scandal-of-the-evangelical-conscience/
I really like Al Mohler! He has done such a tremendous job at SBTS. His article is a reflection of things we have discussed in class. When society bases its rights on the individual and not the collective, the protection of those rights can be severely weakened. That has been evidenced in the weakening of the family unit throughout the nineteenth century into the twentieth. It wasn't until the enlightenment that rights were considered to be individualized. The individual became the focus of almost every enlightenment thinker (See Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey). Before the enlightenment, rights were fundamentally considered to protect groups of people. God created people to live in community. Think about the three primary groups in Scripture - the state, the church, and the family. The Bible establishes and protects these units as wholes, rather than the parts of the whole. When the enlightenment came, the focus magnified the parts at the neglect of the whole. It wasn't until the twentieth century that the effects of this transition significantly affected the American family unit. But when it came, it was embraced with all vigor. Unfortunately, Christians have neglected to recognize this and embraced the rising individualism to the detriment of the family unit. Sadly, statistics show that Christians have devalued the family unit as much or more than the general population. The rise of individualism beginning in the enlightenment, something seemingly insignificant, has led to something terribly detrimental - while Christians were silent and succumbed. It's important for Christians to understand the influence of individualism and promote the more biblical understanding of protecting the rights of communities of people. People like Francis Schaeffer, and now his student Nancy Pearcey, are leading the way in awakening the contemporary Christian conscience on this issue.
ReplyDeleteExcellent points all. Rugged individualism, the hallmark of Americans, has become twisted into selfish egotism, and has worked havoc on family responsibility. An upcoming post by a guest blogger will continue to develop this line of thinking - look for it to be posted soon.
ReplyDeleteGood article. Divorce is clearly an epidemic affecting Christians and non-Christians alike. It's sad how as sinful humans we have complicated our lives. Sin has encroached on God's plan for us, affecting every portion of our lives, including the family unit. I believe that as single Christians we need to make it clear that divorce is not an option- it's black and white. Decide ahead of time that there's no 'ifs, ands or buts' and that divorce is simply not an option. Then upon ending into marriage, when the relationship is strained, our sinful minds won't as easily revert to that tempting option. Of course there are situations that are not the norm, but clearly divorce has become the norm. As Christians we are suppose to live differently and look differently than the world, so as individuals before marriage our heart and mind need to decide divorce is not an option. Then, upon our heart and minds being transformed, our outward appearance displays that we are different and focused on God.
ReplyDeleteThis article explores the scandal of evangelical divorce. Tangentially related, and discussed at length in a recent class, is the issue of whether Christian attorney’s should provide divorces for their clients. One justification for providing divorces to clients, proposed (and seemingly accepted) during this class, is: “Christian attorney’s are uniquely equipped to bring integrity and scruples in a divorce proceeding, and if they are not in this business, then less scrupulous attorneys will fill the void and the divorce will still be done but with increased acrimony.”
ReplyDeleteConsider the implications of this reasoning: Following the same logic, Christian attorneys should also be facilitating human sex-trafficking because otherwise less scrupulous attorneys will fill that void. Obviously ridiculous regarding sex-trafficking? Then why does the same argument carry any weight regarding divorce? I think that it shouldn’t.