Marriage crisis predated gay marriage, conference speakers say

NASHVILLE (BP) —The crisis in marriage preceded the rapid rise of legalized same-sex unions, and the church faces a daunting challenge in addressing it, speakers told 1,300 participants at a Southern Baptist conference on the issue.

Southern Baptist and other Christian leaders addressed a gamut of related issues at the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission’s national conference, “The Gospel, Homosexuality and the Future of Marriage.”

Heterosexuals, not gays, started the erosion of traditional marriage, Al Mohler told conference participants. (ERLC Image)A capacity crowd gathered at the Opryland Resort and Conference Center in Nashville at a time when court rulings have cleared the way for the legalization of gay marriage in 35 states, the percentage of never-married Americans is at a record high, cohabitation has become the default position of many adults and divorce remains a problem in the culture and church.

The crisis regarding the biblical, traditional definition of marriage as a permanent union of a man and a woman began “with the heterosexual subversion of marriage,” said Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theologial Seminary.

“The divorce revolution has done far more harm to marriage than same-sex marriage will ever do,” Mohler said.

Heterosexuals “showed how to destroy marriage by making it a tentative, hypothetical union for so long as it may last, turning it only into a contract” that produced a “consumer good,” he said.

“By the time the moral revolution on same-sex relations arrived on the scene, most of the moral revolution had already happened,” he said.

The church now is in a position of being “a moral minority,” Mohler said.

“We are accustomed to ministry from the top side in the culture, not from the underside,” he said. “We are accustomed to speaking from a position of strength and respect and credibility. And now we are going to be facing the reality that we are already, in much of America, speaking from a position of a loss of credibility.”

Other speakers pointed to the victory of romantic love over all other forms of love in the American mind as a major reason for the marriage crisis.

“I think we as a culture have already redefined marriage to a large extent,” said Trevin Wax, managing editor of The Gospel Project at LifeWay Christian Resources and a popular blogger.

The culture moved away from a “common-good” understanding of marriage to the view of the institution as a romantic, sexual relationship between two consenting adults who want to commit to one another and have the government’s approval, he said.

During the same panel discussion on millennials and marriage, cultural commentator John Stonestreet, a fellow of the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview, asserted: “Same-sex marriage is not the root of any problems. It’s the fruit of missing what the point of marriage actually is. It’s time to rebuild marriage. Stop talking about defending it and start rebuilding.”

Sherif Girgis, who cowrote a book arguing for the traditional view of marriage, said cultural indicators demonstrate why the issue is so important.

A matter of social justice

“Every aspect of the common good depends on a strong marriage. This is Matthew 25 stuff,” Girgis said, referring to Jesus’ words about ministry to the “least of these” in his teaching on the final judgment.

“It is a matter of social justice. That’s why your congregation should care about it. That’s why we can’t give this up or think that it’s just a matter for the church. We owe it to the least of these to make sure that, wherever possible, our culture gives them the best shot at being reared by the love of the man and woman who gave them life.”

Other speakers encouraged conference participants to think and act biblically toward those with whom they differ on issues related to sexual morality.

“We need to recognize that even though we disagree with the gay rights movement on many things, including sexual morality, including the definition of marriage, there are some human dignity issues involved,” ERLC President Russell Moore said.

“And we also need to recognize that we have gay and lesbian persons created in the image of God who are treated with indignity and really with evil and wickedness in many places in the world.”

‘Tone’ has hurt witness

Kevin Ezell, president of Southern Baptists’ North American Mission Board, said during a panel discussion, “The one thing that’s hurt our witness most is the tone” with which it has been conducted. That has “brought on some of the condemnation not on what we’ve said,” but how it has been said, he told the audience.

Glenn Stanton, director for global family formation studies at Focus on the Family, urged conference participants to develop genuine friendships with people who disagree with them.

“The great divider between us and them—and I hate to use that term …—is not sexuality,” Stanton said. “The great equalizer is our sin. The great equalizer is our need for repentance and new life in Christ.”

Friendship “is not a means to an end,” he said. “It is an end in itself. And as those relationships develop, then we can share the truth about our life, and it comes up naturally.”