Everything in our world is changing, including the most popular month for weddings.
For centuries, June was considered the “wedding month” because June is named after the Roman goddess Juno and getting married in June meant special blessings. But that has changed.
In the United States, August is now the most popular month followed by June, July, and then December. My family is excited about my son’s wedding on August 8 and happy for my niece’s wedding on July 11.
But listening to the news, watching TV shows or certain movies, you’ll soon realize that our social and cultural values are no longer what they used to be. Fifty years ago, society and religious norms expected that people fall in love, get married, and have children—in that order. Any deviation from that norm was considered wrong. When young women became pregnant before or outside of marriage, they were shunned and their children often were referred to using derogatory terms.
Sadly, this should have never been. Children should never be judged by the choices of their parents.
Today, all this has changed. Here’s an example:
A few months back, a co-host on a popular morning show announced that she was engaged to her boyfriend and a couple months later, that she was expecting, all to the cheers of her coworkers. Society has swung all the way in the opposite direction and we’ve known for a long time that media—TV, movies, and now the Internet—have led us down this path.
Now not only are people living in common-law relationships given the same status as married couples, but same-sex marriages are becoming the norm. Not only that, people living with more than one spouse—multiple wives and in some cases, husbands—is not only accepted but on the road to legalization.
Veteran journalist Harold Jantz writes: “Do we know better now and have we come to see that we were wrong in our earlier stance? Or did we misunderstand what the Scriptures appeared to teach?” He writes this in his article “Church is being tested on ethics” (ChristianWeek, May 21, 2014).
There is no doubt that we are living in a different world than our parents and definitely that of our grandparents. The world and North America, in particular, have become pretty much an “anything goes” society.
How should we respond? Jantz writes: “I would suggest, first of all, that we remain faithful to a vision of marriage that the Scriptures portray for us. This is a vision rooted in creational language...Whatever has happened in history, Christians have wished to say: this is what marriage is. And that’s why Jesus could say, “From the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” (Mark 10:6-8).
We agree.
Jantz goes on to state: “There is an implication to be drawn from Jesus’ statement that needs noting. It is this: any behavior that undermines marriage is condemned by Jesus. Adultery, fornication, entertaining lustful thoughts [pornography]—none of these are compatible with support for what God intended for humans in creation. That intention is that sexual relations should be reserved for the marriage of a man and a woman.”
Courtney Reissig writing on the Her.Meneutics blog, that the “hook-up culture” tells us that sex outside of marriage gives us freedom and excitement but that those who wait for marriage are promised something more. “Within the confines of a loving, committed, marital relationship, sex is actually the most satisfying....”
She refers to the Song of Solomon as proof that God created sex and “God does all things well.”
Reissig does have issues with this in that “...it fails to consider reality where married sex can also have its shortcomings.” Reissig writes “In some ways, the promise of universally satisfying sex in marriage sets up a generation of hopeful, abstinent Christians for some degree of confusion and heartache.”
We realize that we live in a fallen, broken world in which we often make choices that are unwise and live to regret later on. We must realize that there are consequences to our choices and the path we choose. We need Creator God’s wisdom to live each and every day.
On pages 6-9 you will find a special section on love, relationships, and marriage. We’d encourage you to read them as they offer helpful advice and encouragement to you in whatever relationship you find yourself.
