Preachers are trying to figure-out how to get back in the game.
Millennials and other religiously unaffiliated Americans are eschewing clergy involvement in their weddings.
At least that’s what some statistics and concerned ministers say.
The Knot reported that friend-officiated weddings increased from 29 percent in 2009 to 40 percent six years later.
[ … ]
“I believe – I am hopeful – that the church wedding will become more popular,” she said.
I doubt that will happen. Christianity is simply a cult that made it big — in no small part because of its amoral willingness to use force — and now its narrative and ethics are in deserved disrepute. Holy Men like Albert Mohler et. al. will never admit it in a million years, but they don’t actually believe in marriage; they affirmatively condemn the mutual loyalty and shared ambitions that make a relationship a marriage.
What Albert Mohler believes in is animal husbandry.
Some who have chosen to be childless have actually formed organizations in order to band together. The group “No Kidding” was formed in Atlanta four years ago as a social outlet for couples choosing to have no children. Traci Swartz, an occupational therapist in her thirties, joined “No Kidding” with her husband Jeremy, a 32 year old computer analyst. “When you don’t have children, you are not involved in any activities like a lot of other people, like soccer and ballet,” said Traci.
She explained that “No Kidding” members are more likely to talk about pets, travel, or other common interests. Kids rarely come up as a topic of conversation. “People think we sit around and talk about how we hate kids, but we almost never mention kids,” Traci explained. No wonder.
Another woman in the Atlanta group explained, “you focus those motherly feelings elsewhere. For us, our dogs get all that love.” That worldview is sick, but more and more common.
Christians must recognize that this rebellion against parenthood represents nothing less than an absolute revolt against God’s design.
What Mohler and the like-minded believe is that marriage is a pact entered into in order to combine two sets of skills to grow the cult.
The third theological fact about the family is the continued affirmation of the family within the redeemed people of God – the church. As the Gospels make clear, loyalty to Christ exceeds that of any family commitment, even as the church becomes the family of faith, embracing within its life all who come to faith in Christ and into the life of the church. And yet, Christians are explicitly instructed to honor marriage, to raise their children in the faith, and to order their family according to the Scriptures.
Unfortunately, what Mohler demands is a formula for marital misery.
We were supposed to have a healthy marriage, and here I am putting everyone and every thing ahead of my own family.
What’s wrong with this picture?
That is my greatest regret from over half a century of ministry: I failed to take care of my family.
While these memories remind me of the fact that I did spend time with my beautiful wife and children, I find myself saddened by the fact that I should have spent a lot more time with them, but didn’t. Southeast Ohio is a place of beauty, yet I rarely took the time to enjoy the scenery. Enjoying life was for those who didn’t take seriously the commands of Jesus. As the Apostle Paul centuries before, I wanted my life to be a testimony of single-minded devotion to Jesus. Better to burn out than rust out, I thought at the time. Some day, I will enjoy the scenery of God’s eternal kingdom! Did not the Bible say, prepare to meet the Lord thy God? There will be plenty time later to relax and fish along the banks of the River of Life.
My children and Polly have long since forgiven me for not giving them the time they deserved. They understand why I worked like I did, but I have a hard time forgiving myself for putting God, Jesus, the church, preaching, and winning souls before my family.
There is no nice way to say it: If you get married with the intention of putting an Invisible Friend first, and your spouse second, you’re committing a fraud against your spouse, and aren’t ready to get married at all.