- Feb 5, 2002
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It’s been almost a week since the Coldplay kiss cam scandal rocked the world, initiating a global conversation about tragically familiar topics like abuse of power, betrayal, infidelity, and, significantly in the Christian world, the “d” word — divorce.
Because I try to write mostly about things I know, I’ve written about divorce in the church a number of times, each time feeling more redundant and, perhaps a bit more jaded, than the last. I often feel like I’m swimming upstream against a heavy current of “Thou shalt not divorce, or your children will certainly die” messaging.
And I get it. We live in a throwaway culture that refuses to treat marriage as the sacred covenant that it is, and too much of this casual attitude seems to have crept into the church, where divorce rates are strikingly close to those of the secular world — around 27–32% for practicing Christians compared to 33–37% for non-religious individuals, according to a 2008 Barna Group study. The gap narrows further when including nominal believers who rarely attend church. You will not hear me say divorce is inconsequential, and I understand why so many Christian influencers feel compelled to reiterate how important it is for adults to put their grown-up pants on, prioritize their vows, and do what it takes to remain faithfully committed to each other through thick and thin as best they are able. Divorce does hurt children. You won’t hear me disputing this.
Continued below.
www.christianpost.com
Because I try to write mostly about things I know, I’ve written about divorce in the church a number of times, each time feeling more redundant and, perhaps a bit more jaded, than the last. I often feel like I’m swimming upstream against a heavy current of “Thou shalt not divorce, or your children will certainly die” messaging.
And I get it. We live in a throwaway culture that refuses to treat marriage as the sacred covenant that it is, and too much of this casual attitude seems to have crept into the church, where divorce rates are strikingly close to those of the secular world — around 27–32% for practicing Christians compared to 33–37% for non-religious individuals, according to a 2008 Barna Group study. The gap narrows further when including nominal believers who rarely attend church. You will not hear me say divorce is inconsequential, and I understand why so many Christian influencers feel compelled to reiterate how important it is for adults to put their grown-up pants on, prioritize their vows, and do what it takes to remain faithfully committed to each other through thick and thin as best they are able. Divorce does hurt children. You won’t hear me disputing this.
Continued below.
The hidden costs of 'staying married for the kids'
We need to listen to survivors, not silence them with statistics that don t tell the whole story
www.christianpost.com
