Al Mohler interacts with Time’s recent cover story:
“When an institution so central to human experience suddenly changes shape in the space of a generation or two, it’s worth trying to figure out why.” Belinda Luscombe of TIME magazine made that observation in the course of reporting on a major study of marriage undertaken by TIME and the Pew Research Center. In the cover story for the magazine’s November 29, 2010 edition, Luscombe summarizes their findings with a blunt statement: “We found that marriage, whatever its social, spiritual, or symbolic appeal, is in purely practical terms just not as necessary as it used to be.”
Without doubt, marriage has been utterly transformed in the modern world.
The rest here.
As much as I highly value Dr. Mohler’s view on Biblical marriage, I think we have just as much opportunity to speak to higher issues. Where are we headed in eternity? (No longer married to each other, but the Church married to Christ) If marriage is such a big deal, why wasn’t Jesus married? What does this tell us from an ontological and eschatological perspective and what do we need to tell the unchurched world that they are not getting from anywhere right now? Me thinks there is a redemptive message in this that ought to be tapped into — that is, a message that goes beyond the Ozzie and Harriet view… I’m not sure how it would go though. Need to research it.
Lou – – Those are valuable thoughts. I think there are many ways that we communicate the wrong thing to single people by the ways that we talk about marriage. Thanks for commenting. It is a good reminder to me as a pastor.