completed the research, and the aggregate findings are interesting: Of
the top ten most-often-mentioned topics which respondents said
they “currently need help with in their life,” half of the issues related
to marriage and parenting. These include “good communication,”
“children’s spiritual growth,” “spouse’s needs/expectations,” “building
a strong marriage,” and “Christian values in the home.” Of those who
are parents, 66 percent agreed with the statement, “I don’t have much
confidence in my parenting skills.”
Now add in the present-day uncertainties and fears related to ter-
rorist acts and we have a giant spiritual vacuum that needs to be filled
in marriages and families across our nation. People have never been
as spiritually receptive as they are today. They want answers that help
them where they live at home with their spouse and families.
Do you sense the opportunity? People are hungry for what God
says about the family issues they are facing. Let’s find some fresh new
ways to feed them a tasty meal.
Mandate Three: The Church Must Become the Guardian of
the Marriage Covenant
Because marriage is a covenant among a man, a woman, and almighty
God for a lifetime, no wonder God said that He hates divorce (Mal.
2:16). One reason God despises marital demise so much is that He
desires godly offspring (Mal. 2:15). We are well aware of the personal,
lifelong devastation experienced by many children of divorce.
Novelist Pat Conroy has profoundly written that each divorce is the
death of a small civilization. God hates this. It is not the model He
intended.
Sometimes when I speak, I take a poll of the audience. I have
found that only about one out of every three hundred in a Christian
audience have ever seen a marriage covenant—not a marriage license,
but a signed and witnessed covenant. By contrast, about one of four
have seen a prenuptial agreement. What’s wrong with that picture?
In our society we have “dumbed-down” the marriage promise so
that in perceived seriousness it’s about one notch above a car loan. In
fact, I think in most states you probably can get out of marriage easier
22 BUILDINGSTRONGFAMILIES