In a technologically advanced world, what we see online is increasingly impacting what society considers to be normal. For instance, pop culture seems to love promoting the “single and independent” aesthetic in its attempt to convince men and women that marriage is merely an outdated tradition that has no place in modern society. Movies, TV shows, social media influencers, and several other camps of modern culture champion this idea that to be married is slavery, and to be single is freedom.
However, not only is pop culture’s view of marriage contrary to what Scripture teaches, but even social research proves that marriage is, indeed, statistically a better way of living. University of Virginia Professor of Sociology Brad Wilcox conducted his own research specific to American society in order to make the “case for why people should work toward starting and maintaining strong marriages.” As he stated in a July webinar, the research, pulled from one of his recent books, found that “married Americans are markedly more likely to be financially secure and almost twice as likely to be very happy with their lives compared to their single peers in the U.S.”
More specifically, as summarized by The College Fix, Wilcox’s personal data discovered that “forty percent of married moms said they were ‘very happy’ compared to 22 percent of women who were single and childless,” and “13 percent of married women said they were ‘not very happy’ compared to 25 percent of single women.” Two other notable points in his findings include the fact that marriage — more than education, money, career, sex, or church attendance — proves to be “a more conclusive factor for happiness.”
LifeNews is on TruthSocial. Please follow us here.
Wilcox also noted that being married “gives your life a sense of meaning … direction … purpose and stability,” as well as someone who “helps you navigate both the highs and the lows” of life. Analyzing the research, one major aspect seemed to stand out, which is the fact that all of Wilcox’s research simply affirms what the Bible has declared to be true. Of course, Christians are to find their sense of meaning, direction, purpose, and stability from the Lord. But it stands to reason that marriage is a gift God offers as an immense blessing — a relationship unique from any other in this life.
As Director of Family Research Council’s Center for Biblical Worldview David Closson said in comment to The Washington Stand, “2 Timothy 3:16 teaches us that all Scripture is breathed out by God, and that it’s profitable for teaching, rebuking, [and] correcting, [that] the man of God may be equipped for all righteousness.” This verse, Closson emphasized, reflects the greater picture of how “the theology presented in the Bible regarding marriage and family is one that sees marriage and children as an unalloyed gift for Christians who believe in the authority of Scripture.” As such, “We should not be surprised when research and social science proves what the Bible tells us.”
But Closson pointed out that just because marriage is good does not mean “everyone … will get married and have a family.” However, “the general pattern of life is that people get married and have children,” which “is according to God’s good design.” Ultimately, “Marriage is a gift from the Creator,” and its roots trace “all the way back to the opening chapters of Genesis, where God said that it is not good for man to be alone.”
In fact, what we see with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is the pre-fallen world where people were “flourishing under God’s rule.” And yet, because it is instituted by God Himself, Christians really can’t be “surprised that even in a fallen world” marriage remains a valuable, good, and fruitful covenant. Indeed, within a fallen world, Wilcox made another insightful observation that helps us understand the important role marriage plays in society.
He found that there were four groups that he considered to be “masters of marriage”: conservatives, Christians, Asian Americans, and those with a college education. As Wilcox stated, these are the groups of people with stable jobs, a stronger sense of commitment, and the belief that marriage is a “necessary institution.” These groups also tend to have friends with similar beliefs and values. To elaborate on this aspect of Wilcox’s research, Closson explained how it’s “a noted worldwide phenomenon that those in conservative religious traditions are more likely to get married and have children.”
Closson added, “This is true in conservative, Catholic, and evangelical families in the West, and it is also true in the Orthodox Jewish communities that you’ll find in Israel.” Notably, these are groups that have their values stemming from theological or cultural traditions. However, in no way does that make marriage the out-of-date, useless institution pop culture seems to suggest it is. Rather, Closson noted that “the popular culture’s aversion to marriage likely has many causes,” and “one of which is undoubtedly the loss of a theological worldview that sees marriage and family as good gifts from a creator God.”
From Closson’s perspective, the current “culture values autonomy above all else.” More specifically, “[I]t values an understanding of identity as one that is focused on the needs, desires, [and] urges of the self, and anything that requires commitment or sacrifice is seen as something that is inherently constricting.” And so, it’s not surprising when “popular culture glorifies the free single person who can do whatever they want whenever they want with whoever they want, free from the constraints of binding relationships.”
However, when looking at this biblically, Closson concluded that this merely shows how the “theological worldview that [once] dominated so much of Western civilization,” which understands that “sacrifice and commitment [are] ideals that are worthy of emulating and pursuing,” is diminishing. Really, it’s “just simply not the culture that we live in.”
LifeNews Note: Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand, where this originally appeared.
