SBC wants to stop divorce..now what?

June 19, 2010 | Posted by drrick

I am sitting here in Wesson, MS this morning. Day Two of our Marriage of Our Dreams seminar continues. Yet I wanted to take this time to reflect

This past week the Southern Baptist Convention voted on a resolution which is simply a statement that they want to stop the increasing divorces in their denomination. Well, at the risk of sounding critical, it is about time. Sadly, how many casualties have had to happen before the SBC took marriage seriously. Too many. Again, many denominations are more reactive than proactive. And signing a resolution essentially means nothing without action.

But how did the Body of Christ get to this point in the first place? I believe we took our focus off the important things in life and put them on the institutional. Bigger buildings, programs, marketing programs, high profile consultants, bigger media outlets, etc. And this is the church! Not just McDonalds. Sadly when we get our focus off of being Father’s heart (a heart of love) and place it on numbers (A mega-church pastor once told me that “people are numbers and we are going after numbers”) people are no longer respected as people but mere commodities to be “gotten.”

Yet when I talk to young people today who have left the church, one message is dominant. How they saw people treated had a major impact on their understanding not simply of the people of God, but more important, who HE is.

If we want to take back marriage then a simple resolution in my mind is not sufficient. All talk, no action. So what is next. Sending people to marriage counseling is not the answer. 64% of those going to marriage counseling divorce. And, why wait to intervent after people have fallen off the cliff.

My anwer: a proactive approach. Develop ongoing and sustainable relationship ministry that addresses the needs of marriages and families and that include skills-based paradigms. There are enough people out there telling people WHAT to do and WHY, but very few showing people HOW to do the very thing they are asked to do. Don’t tell others to “stop doing that” but tell them “do this instead.”

Information does not change people..it only informs them. Showing them how can empower people to do the difference that will make the difference. may we in the Church come to fully understand this.

Categories: Marriage | Tags: church, Divorce, marriage and family ministry, SBC, Skills based relationship | No Comments »