Impossible Recipe?

Statistically, Christians have the highest divorce rates in the United States. We are at 27 percent according to George Barna. This is a statistic accounts even for people who live together unmarried outside Christianity. We have higher divorce rates than all other religions, including atheists, with the next highest stat being 24%.

Most Christian leaders blame people within the Christian Body for this embarrassing gap. Well, there is a saying, "The proof is in the pudding." Our pudding is burnt. Atheists have better pudding. It's time to take a second look at our recipe and stop trying to blame the poor people who are trying to eat the pudding.

In recent decades, there has been a proliferation of "family ministries." These ministries have exact teachings for everything from family roles to how to put on your socks in the morning. Churches have become bent on forming cookie cutter families that fit the mold. There are multitudes of heavy teachings on "Biblical order," and submission, and blood covenant, and duty, and death to self, and being the perfect wife and husband . . . etc., etc., ad nauseam.

The church has become very legalistic concerning roles in marriage, and divorce issues. The attempt to control families and keep marriages together by legalism is cultish and is backfiring terribly. This is the reason that we have the highest divorce rate....

Sadly, as divorce rates continue to rise, the church gets more condemning. The language of legalism intensifies. Perhaps, we just need to realize that we have concocted an impossible recipe for marriage. Perhaps, the weight of our doctrines is causing the increase of Christian divorces. The Bible says we should need no humans to teach us because of the powerful presence of God within each of us. Jesus said to consider no human your teacher except the Teacher Himself....

By leveling heavy marriage doctrines, the church has robbed many people of the life, uniqueness, creativity, joy, abundance, fulfillment, and love that marriage was intended to bring.

[via the articles at God's Word To Women]