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Something is radically wrong with homes today. The family is under fire and home life is disintegrating. Year by year the stress put on marriages grows greater. In 1870 there was one divorce for every 34 marriages. By 1900 it was one in five, and by 1950 it was one in three. In the past few years there has been virtually one divorce for every two marriages.
According to a recent Gallup poll, 73% of Americans, under age 45, believe that life spent with the same partner is both unusual and unnecessary.
For many, marriage vows are unimportant. A study cited in a recent edition of Time Magazine indicates that cohabitation before marriage is on the rise, up from 10% in 1960 to 50% 1998.
Barna research shows:
That divorce in the church is just as commonas outside the church. In the church 33%, outside the church 34%.
Also, the south is second in the nation in divorce. The south has a divorce rate of 35%, just behind the west (38%), and leading the Midwest (32%) and Northeast (28%).
Another striking percentage for us as Baptists is that we lead the nation’s major denominations in divorce rates at 29%. Protestant churches overall is at 25%.
The divorce rate amongst the generations is also a bit of surprise:
Seniors (73+) = 18%
Builders (53-72) = 37%
Boomers = 34%
Busters = 7% (Most of these are not old enough to
marry yet).
What does this say about marriage in America? Is it old fashioned. One scholar said that long term marriage commitment isn’t good for mode...
Christians do get divorced. Some for Biblical reasons. According to researcher George Barna, the ratio of Christians who have been divorced is higher than the percentage of non-Christians. In his sample of almost 4000 adults, Christians led non-Christians in divorce by a margin of 3 percentage points, 27% to 24%. -REV Magazine, May-June, 2000
Perhaps the number of non-Christians that live together, without the benefit of marriage, and the number of Christians that find their faith after divorce should be taken into account before we jump to any conclusions about this data. My point in citing it is just to say that it is unrealistic to believe you are immune from marriage problems just because you are a Christian.
D. Greg Ebie
· The Bible tells us that where your treasure is, there your heart is also. That means we could accurately say that many folks are more committed to professional sports than they are to the church. In 1993 the total attendance at worship services in the U.S. was 5.6 billion, while the total attendance at U.S. professional baseball, football, and basketball games combined was only 103 million (less than 2 percent of the worship attendance, or for every 100 people who attended church less than 2 were at a sporting event.)
· Now the rest of the story: Contributions to churches for the year totaled $56.7 billion (that’s just over $10 per person), but the amount spent on professional baseball, football, and basketball totaled $4 billion (that’s nearly $40 per person or almost 4 times what people gave to their local church per person). Is it any wonder that we look at some fans and say that they really are fanatics? They are more sold out for their team than many church attenders. HOW MIGHT WE CHANGE OUR NATION IF THE CHURCH QUADRUPLED ITS COMMITMENT TO OUR CAUSE? (Statistics reported in Citation: National & International Religion Report, 5/2/94. "To Verify," Leadership.)
Back in 1870’s there was one
divorce for every 34 marriages. By 1900, one in five marriages ended in divorce. Today, one out of every two marriages ends in divorce.
Recently, a survey was made of 200 married adults in regards to forgiveness (1). The researchers were wondering how one’s ability to forgive others would affect their marital satisfaction and personal well-being. The results were astounding! This research suggests that there is a huge relationship between marriage satisfaction and forgiveness. In fact, it appears that as much as one third of marriage satisfaction is related to forgiveness. Not only does the ability to forgive impact the marriage relationship, it was significantly related to personal emotional distress. As forgiveness ability went up, individuals reported fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety, and fatigue! These results...
55% of Americans believe it is a sin to engage in homosexual behavior, among those who have a high level of religious commitment it’s 76%. (Foster Letter 11/25/03)
22 percent of married men and 14 percent of married women have strayed at least once during their married lives.
-Source: Associated Press
According to a 2005 study by Keynote, an Internet industry research firm 30 percent of online daters are married or live with a significant other.
In 2002, Beatriz Avila Mileham, conducted research for her doctoral dissertation in counselor education at the University of Florida. She interviewed 76 men and 10 women online, ages 25 to 66, who used Yahoo’s "Married and Flirting" or Microsoft’s "Married But Flirting," Internet chat rooms geared specifically for married people. The study’s participants, who represented every state, included stay-at-home mothers, construction workers, engineers, nurses and presidents of large corporations. Some went online for a quick "sex fix," while others established more meaningful connections where they talked about personal problems, marital issues and things like that, Mileham said. Others hoped to have a real-life affair. Still others wanted to engage in cybersex, exchanging sexual fantasies with someone.
The vast majority said they loved their spouses but sought an erotic encounter online because of boredom, a partner’s lack of sexual interest or the need for variety and fun, Mileham said.
Twenty-six of the 86 study participants went on to meet the person whom they had been engaged in an online relationship with, and of these, all but two ended up having a real-life affair. One 66-year-old man ended up having 13 affairs this way, she said.
In my research I even heard one man say that he had cyber sex while his wife was in the same room. She thought he was working. Another man said his wife knew but hated it. She would sometimes look over his shoulder while he exchanged lewd sexual comments to people on the internet.
