Elay 18, 1980
Pulpit Counsel about Marriage, No. 3
The FBC of Asheville, NJ\C
WHY MARRIAGE?
Text: Matt. 19:1-12
Introduction:
Some generations are born, grow up, grow old and die without hav-
ing to think through what they believe. Tradition weighs so heav-iy
upon these generations until they must conform. Usually these people
form their traditions from a blending of family expectation, state
law, and church doctrines. When all of these are rfolled into a societal
expectation, the individual who fails to conform to that societal ex-
pectation is bold indeed. He is probably foolhardy.
But we do not live in such a time. Family is catch-as-catch can
to too many children. Daddy does not live at home. Mommy works. The
public school has become a child care agency as much as an educational
force. You cannot presume that what the child hears at school is the
same as what the parent is saying at home. One child in five goes to
Sunday School this day in the state of North Carolina. So, the church
i2s a presence, but the church is hardly a unifying force in the passing
along of values. If what I have described is true, we live in a time
when the individual can pretty much do as he will. And in private
ethic we have come upon such a time.
The kind of a world we live in is called pluralistic. This means
that people with differing views of values live alongside each other.
One of the places where we differ with many of the people living a-
round us is on sexual rules. David Mace wrote of us this way:
In broad general terms, it has come to resemble a three-layer
cake. The bottom layer consists of those people whc still accept
the traditional Christian standard of sexual bEhaviior--premrarital
chastity, marital fidelity, and lifelong marriage. In the next
layer are those who accept marriage as the proper, though inot
the exclusive, setting for sexual fulfillment; but they do not
consider marriage as a permanent or binding obligation, and thcre-
fo ...
Pulpit Counsel about Marriage, No. 3
The FBC of Asheville, NJ\C
WHY MARRIAGE?
Text: Matt. 19:1-12
Introduction:
Some generations are born, grow up, grow old and die without hav-
ing to think through what they believe. Tradition weighs so heav-iy
upon these generations until they must conform. Usually these people
form their traditions from a blending of family expectation, state
law, and church doctrines. When all of these are rfolled into a societal
expectation, the individual who fails to conform to that societal ex-
pectation is bold indeed. He is probably foolhardy.
But we do not live in such a time. Family is catch-as-catch can
to too many children. Daddy does not live at home. Mommy works. The
public school has become a child care agency as much as an educational
force. You cannot presume that what the child hears at school is the
same as what the parent is saying at home. One child in five goes to
Sunday School this day in the state of North Carolina. So, the church
i2s a presence, but the church is hardly a unifying force in the passing
along of values. If what I have described is true, we live in a time
when the individual can pretty much do as he will. And in private
ethic we have come upon such a time.
The kind of a world we live in is called pluralistic. This means
that people with differing views of values live alongside each other.
One of the places where we differ with many of the people living a-
round us is on sexual rules. David Mace wrote of us this way:
In broad general terms, it has come to resemble a three-layer
cake. The bottom layer consists of those people whc still accept
the traditional Christian standard of sexual bEhaviior--premrarital
chastity, marital fidelity, and lifelong marriage. In the next
layer are those who accept marriage as the proper, though inot
the exclusive, setting for sexual fulfillment; but they do not
consider marriage as a permanent or binding obligation, and thcre-
fo ...
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