Evangelicals: Why Do We Have the Highest Divorce Rate?
The rates by percentage for religious groups was found to be:
Non-Denominational 34%
Mainline Protestants 25%
Atheists/Agnostics 21%
This poll is several years old, however, no change in the trend seems to be occurring. This is especially bothersome to me because I would fall into the "Non-Denominational" category. Perhaps it is ignorance on my part, but I have sort of deemed my marriage to be bullet-proof because my theology dictates that divorce is not a viable option. As a general principle, most evangelical Christians I know have a very strict view of divorce; It is only permissible under cases of abuse or adultery. Why, then, should Christians have a higher divorce rate than atheists?
Several reasons were suggested by the Barna Poll, including:
1. Christians are generally younger when they marry the first time.
2. Christians are less likely to have pre-marital counseling than non-Christians.
3. Christians tend to view their faith as protecting their marriage from divorce.
4. Christians are more likely to be ignorant about the problems that can develop within a marriage.
Sadly, I have to agree that many of these reasons might be accurate. I find it upsetting for several reasons:
1. Christians are supposed to be witnesses to the lost with their lifestyle. A loving, healthy marriage is an excellent way of showing Christ to people. If this union fails, so does the opportunity to use your marriage for the furtherance of the gospel. Satan must also work over-time to make Christian marriages fail because it is such a poor picture of what the Christian life should be like.
2. The Church is supposed to be God's medium through which married couples can grow in their faith and walk together. If a couple is faithfully attending church and still their marriage falls apart, I have to wonder if the church is doing its job.
3. I wonder if Christians are too likely to rest on the forgiveness of God? Could they possibly thinking, "Since God is loving and forgiving, it is OK if my marriage fails."?
4. Ultimately, the man and woman in a marriage are the ones responsible for its success. If they fail, the fault must ultimately rest with them. A divorce in a Christian family not only damages the faith of the couple, i.e. "Why did God let our marriage fall apart?" but also has an overwhelmingly negative impact on the children involved.
Christians being known for having the highest divorce rate in mainstream America is completely unacceptable and is a blight on the face of Christ's church. We must take care to guard our marriages against the attacks of the devil and our culture.
Published by Amy Kreger
Amy is a stay at home mom who resides in northern Minnesota. She has been married for 9 years and has 4 young children. View profile
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9 Comments
Post a CommentThis may be a case of playing with numbers. Not that I am denying that Christians divorce like everyone else, but there may be a lot more Christians to divorce, if that makes sense. There are more Christians in the world than Atheists, right? So you can skew the numbers around and turn it into an attack on Christians when it's really just a majority/minority thing.
Ihavebeenwonderingthesame.ImightverywellbethatcouplesthinkbecausetheygotochurchregularlyandareChristians,theyareautomaticallyprotectedandmaynotseekagreementandactivityotherwise.Also,theymightbeverynaivelikeIwas,thatChristianmarrigesshouldbeconflictfree.Idoagreewithoneoftheself-proclaimedatheists,thatputtingchurchabovethefamilyisunwise.Godhowevermuststillbeinthecenter.Godandchurcharenotthesame.Also,ourevangelicalchurchesdontreallyteachpeoplehowtolive.Applicationandmentoringareneclected.ItakethisallasachallengeandasawakeupcallfromGodtore-evaluatewhatwearedoing.
Is the writer of the article unaware of false converts and tares in the wheat field? 1 in 3 'Christians' believe 'Jesus sinned'
Half of Americans who call themselves "Christian" don't believe Satan exists and fully one-third are confident that Jesus sinned while on Earth, according to a new Barna Group poll.
Another 40 percent say they do not have a responsibility to share their Christian faith with others, and 25 percent "dismiss the idea that the Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches," the organization reports.
So, my question to the author of this article is, do you truly believe TRUE BELIEVERS have a higher divorce rate than unbelievers? hmmmm...
Matthew 7:21-23 please read.
I can understand these statistics. I'm christain but I dont think I could ever date a christain guy. Most christains I know force their religions on others, and I dont want any of them doing that to any of my friends. My friends dont like that, I respect everyone and christains always bash gays, which I got a ton of friends like that, As long as the christain isnt super strict I can be fine, Its just I dont want someone that will call your friends evil or that they going to hell cause they believe in something different, All religions werre once one and people split apart and changed it a bit, and most christains I have seen are hypocrites. I can get along with anyone I just dont like people spreading hate. And not everything we do is gods fault, we make our own decisions and we get the consequences for each action we do, good or bad. AndI am against divorce, and I can see why some last and others dont. Every marriage there is time to be together, lots of people dont even try or focus
Interesting and true observations, Amy. I personally believe the destruction of Christian marriages is due to the fact that the church refuses to take a biblical view of it. How many church signs have we seen that advertise "Divorce Recovery"? We are so afraid of offending that we are almost exclusively focused on making people happy in the short term by helping them through their grief-- rather than helping Christians take the path that leads to LASTING happiness-- obedience through faithfulness even when things are really really "crummy".
I've been married for 34 years. And my husband and I, too, understand that divorce isn't an option. Therefore, we MUST work to get through those difficult times that all married people face. The result: we're still best friends after all these years! (Mind you, we've had plenty of testings and troubles, some very trying ones!)
Socilogically speaking, divorce in the Christian (Baptist) Church is another one of those abominations. We preach and pseudo-walk these principles (divorce, music, dress, sexuality) in order to fit in to the bubble that we call community. However, what seems to be a blessing to the people within the bubble when there is a husband and wife team ministering is that typically that husband and wife spend 98% of their time and affection and apply it to the ministry they have been called (music, drama, children...) What the spouses get are 2% of each other's time. This tears the emotional and physical bond apart. The husband and wife are husband and wife in the pubic realm, but in the private realm they are merely roommates and acquaintances. Spiritual leadership is the responbility of the man (me); however, when your wife tends to care more about other people and their needs vs. my needs (emotional, physical, sexual), one can safely say that the man will tend to look elsewhere for tha
'Satan working overtime', lmao, where do you guys come up with this stuff?
first, I'm not the same Jeff that commented below, although I agree with what he said..I would add that as an Atheist I am heartened to read that I am in the most successfully married category! And a question on your number 4...why is it that christians always give god the credit for the good things in their life, yet never the blame for the bad?
Could another explination for this be that churches (especially, fundamentalist protestant) encourage people to put "God" or the church first in their lives instead of their spouse. I think the key in marriage is putting your spouses needs above all else, even religion. It has nothing to do with "Satan" working overtime. Marriage is stressful and hard at times and the only way to make is last is through communication and respect of each other. Two things the church does not teach