Thinking-Christianly

According to a Pew study publicized in the media this week, the influence of religion is diminishing in the American culture. The study notes that one in four adults ages 18 to 29 claim no affiliation with a religious institution.

The study reflects the growing cracks in the entity we know as organized religion. Though the study reveals that 78% of those surveyed identified themselves as “Christian,” the meaning of that identification is blurred. I suspect that is the key reason why loyalty to denominations is erroding at such a rapid pace. Organized religious bodies have sold their souls for the promise of a larger market share. In many cases, they mute discussion about doctrine and biblical principles and shape their mission, their function, and their future around what they assume the consumer desires.

In the absence of biblical distinctives, the mission dies. The muzzled voice of God is no longer heard. And many rightly shun such religion because it is without clarity, backbone, or purpose.

The Christian faith as taught and practiced by Christ and his disciples was immensely different from that which passes as Christian religion today. It was a call away from selfishness to an eternal purpose. It was a light into the darkness of the human soul that challenged pride and triggred a crisis that challenged the autonomy and syncretism of the day. It was a summons to engage in something bigger than any of us and our decaying world.

It’s time for those who dare to follow Christ to recapture the vision, the distinctives, and the mission to which Jesus calls us. The fellowships that build such priorities into their DNA will have an impact for good. Those that don’t will join the thousands of religious organizations that stumble along the path of least resistance, mimicking the culture, headed toward oblivion.

Critics of Christianity may assert that the Bible demonstrates an inconsistent morality. Christians encourage monogamy, but the Bible is full of polygamy. What gives?

The argument that the Bible records polygamy and therfore projects an inconsistentent morality is flawed on several levels.

First, the number of polygamous relationships recorded in scripture are relatively few. There are 15 such instances before the kingdom was divided after Solomon’s reign (931 BC) and 4 more examples in the time of the divided monarchy.

Secondly, one must differentiate between what the Bible prescribes and what it describes. Much of the history recorded in the Bible depicts human behavior that God neither endorses nor promotes. Polygamy falls in this category.

The descriptive passages themselves underscore the folly of polygamy. The jeslousy, envy, hatred, and bitterness that resulted from these relationships produced great misery. (See the “baby wars” of Jacob’s offspring as an example.

Throughout the Bible the prescriptive passages either demand or imply monogomy. God’s design for marriage is clearly outlined in Genesis 2:24.

Other verses are not as explicit, but refer to “wife” consistently in the singular. Examples include Psal 128:3; Proverbs 4:15-21; Malachi 2:14; and Jeremiah 5:8.

God demonstrates amazing patience toward polygamy (and other assorted sins) without condoning it.