"Is the fact that this study shows the rate of divorce to be 38% among churchgoers but 60% among nonchurchgoers supposed to be something to brag about?"
I've heard Driscoll cite the statistic that divorce is as rampant among Christians as outside. If pastors use a false statistic from the pulpit to rebuke God's people then that dillutes rather than focuses the strength of biblical preaching. Rebuking the local church or the church at large for things they are not as guilty of as supposed either brings condemnation on those who don't deserve it or, at least potentially, hardens the hearts of those who need to hear the rebuke because they can hear that "everyone else is doing it" and excuse themselves.
When a majority of God's people in a region are genuinely guilty of a particular sin that needs to be pointed out but at the risk of picking non-random samples, I would seriously doubt people attending John Piper's church are as likely to divorce as people who listen to Benny Hinn or Paula White.
Relative to the number of cohabiting people who never marry in the first place and cycle through various relationships that 38 percent may look even better. We shouldn't forget that despite our best intentions we are sinners, too. I know a man in Christ whose parents failed to keep their marriage alive after eleven years that included one of them abusing alcohol, not being faithful, getting into fights at work, messing with occult stuff, and then finally making moves toward physical abuse. It's unfortunate the marriage ended and ended the way it did but the sad reality is that marriage between two sinners will sometimes end in divorce. If we are able to know why that 38% split we don't know that we wouldn't conclude that in at least some of those cases there may be biblical grounds for divorce in some of them. I'm against divorce but in most cases of divorce there are often reasons to argue the couple should not have married to begin with--yet God can use those relational disasters for purposes we can't discern.
Specifically, the article stated: "Of those who attend church regularly, 38 percent have been divorced".
This doesn't say anything about the level of religious commitment among these people at the time they got divorced, only that they have this level of commitment now, and that they have been divorced at some time in the past. They could have had a low level of commitment in the past, gotten divorced, and only more recently developed a higher level of commitment.
In addition, this statistic does not take into account mitigating factors such as adultery and wilful desertion.
The whole point of these statistics, especially as they are used from pulpits today, is to try to see if committed Christians really see marriage as a serious commitment - one that can't simply be dissolved when tough times are encountered. A proper statistic in this regard would consider the divorce rate of couples who, while both being committed believers at the time, got divorced, absent of the aforementioned mitigating circumstances. Short of this kind of study, statistics such as these don't provide us with any meaningful information about the reality of Christ in the lives of believers, with respect to unjustified divorce. It would also be meaningful to look at the statistics of acts of adultery and desertion committed by committed believers, but that is a different issue from simply seeing marriage as a committment easily dissolved when hard times come around - and that is the issue that is normally in view when these statistics are cited.
I've heard Driscoll cite the statistic that divorce is as rampant among Christians as outside. If pastors use a false statistic from the pulpit to rebuke God's people then that dillutes rather than focuses the strength of biblical preaching.
I agree that this is a problem. However, I believe it is more likely a problem of ignorance than anything else. Most people have not had formal training in statistics. I would contend that a pastor should at least have some modicum of training in statistics before trotting out the conclusions of these kinds of studies before his flock. Christians are to be discerning, and as many fabrications are fabricated using statistics, we should learn to be discerning in this area as well. And if Christians are to be discerning in a particular area, how much more the pastor, who is charged with the care and well-being of the flock!
Is the fact that this study shows the rate of divorce to be 38% among churchgoers but 60% among nonchurchgoers supposed to be something to brag about?
ReplyDeleteA 38% divorce rate among the putative followers of Jesus???
I suppose that if the 60% number were to increase, the 38% number will look even better!
"I suppose that if the 60% number were to increase, the 38% number will look even better!"
ReplyDeleteRelative to the increasing 60%, yes?
BLOGFORTHELORDJESUSCURRENTEVENTS SAID:
ReplyDelete"Is the fact that this study shows the rate of divorce to be 38% among churchgoers but 60% among nonchurchgoers supposed to be something to brag about?"
Which misses the point.
Steve said: "Which misses the point."
ReplyDelete... and doesn't normalize against the possibility one of the partners is more a churchgoer than the other (or more serious about their faith).
Good find Steve.
I've heard Driscoll cite the statistic that divorce is as rampant among Christians as outside. If pastors use a false statistic from the pulpit to rebuke God's people then that dillutes rather than focuses the strength of biblical preaching. Rebuking the local church or the church at large for things they are not as guilty of as supposed either brings condemnation on those who don't deserve it or, at least potentially, hardens the hearts of those who need to hear the rebuke because they can hear that "everyone else is doing it" and excuse themselves.
ReplyDeleteWhen a majority of God's people in a region are genuinely guilty of a particular sin that needs to be pointed out but at the risk of picking non-random samples, I would seriously doubt people attending John Piper's church are as likely to divorce as people who listen to Benny Hinn or Paula White.
Relative to the number of cohabiting people who never marry in the first place and cycle through various relationships that 38 percent may look even better. We shouldn't forget that despite our best intentions we are sinners, too. I know a man in Christ whose parents failed to keep their marriage alive after eleven years that included one of them abusing alcohol, not being faithful, getting into fights at work, messing with occult stuff, and then finally making moves toward physical abuse. It's unfortunate the marriage ended and ended the way it did but the sad reality is that marriage between two sinners will sometimes end in divorce. If we are able to know why that 38% split we don't know that we wouldn't conclude that in at least some of those cases there may be biblical grounds for divorce in some of them. I'm against divorce but in most cases of divorce there are often reasons to argue the couple should not have married to begin with--yet God can use those relational disasters for purposes we can't discern.
Specifically, the article stated: "Of those who attend church regularly, 38 percent have been divorced".
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't say anything about the level of religious commitment among these people at the time they got divorced, only that they have this level of commitment now, and that they have been divorced at some time in the past. They could have had a low level of commitment in the past, gotten divorced, and only more recently developed a higher level of commitment.
In addition, this statistic does not take into account mitigating factors such as adultery and wilful desertion.
The whole point of these statistics, especially as they are used from pulpits today, is to try to see if committed Christians really see marriage as a serious commitment - one that can't simply be dissolved when tough times are encountered. A proper statistic in this regard would consider the divorce rate of couples who, while both being committed believers at the time, got divorced, absent of the aforementioned mitigating circumstances. Short of this kind of study, statistics such as these don't provide us with any meaningful information about the reality of Christ in the lives of believers, with respect to unjustified divorce. It would also be meaningful to look at the statistics of acts of adultery and desertion committed by committed believers, but that is a different issue from simply seeing marriage as a committment easily dissolved when hard times come around - and that is the issue that is normally in view when these statistics are cited.
WTH,
ReplyDeleteI've heard Driscoll cite the statistic that divorce is as rampant among Christians as outside. If pastors use a false statistic from the pulpit to rebuke God's people then that dillutes rather than focuses the strength of biblical preaching.
I agree that this is a problem. However, I believe it is more likely a problem of ignorance than anything else. Most people have not had formal training in statistics. I would contend that a pastor should at least have some modicum of training in statistics before trotting out the conclusions of these kinds of studies before his flock. Christians are to be discerning, and as many fabrications are fabricated using statistics, we should learn to be discerning in this area as well. And if Christians are to be discerning in a particular area, how much more the pastor, who is charged with the care and well-being of the flock!