A Case Against Early Marriage by Ashley Moore (editorial)
Read it here:
(Link): A Case Against Early Marriage by Ashley Moore (editorial)
Excerpts:
- Eight years later, I’m still not married. I’d tell you it’s been awesome, but you probably wouldn’t believe me. Society, and particularly the church, seems so uncomfortable with singleness. By the time we hit quarter-life, friendly faces are ready to pair us off at any moment, as if being single necessarily means we’re incomplete. Some even come at us with warnings that we’ll become “leftovers” if we don’t find our mate soon. (Ask me if I’ve ever been called leftovers. I dare you.)
Then come the blog posts and articles, with stats and theories on why all our friends who ended up marrying their high school or college boyfriends got it right. The 2009 Christianity Today cover story, “The Case for Early Marriage,” was just the beginning. This wedding season brought another bump in pro-early-marriage arguments in Christian publications and mainstream magazines.
…This line of thinking remains risky, presenting marriage as such a positive move for 20somethings when so many of them aren’t ready. Surrounded by proponents of young love and young marriage, I felt a pressure beyond my years to make a commitment, and I am so glad I didn’t give in to those expectations, having grown up and grown closer to God in the years since.
…The statistics about the sex lives of single adults, including single Christians, are grim. According to a recent study in Relevant magazine, 80 percent of Christian singles in their 20s have had sex, and 64 percent had done so in the past year. By age 20, 25 percent of single women in the general public have cohabited, but by age 30, 74 percent of women have done so.
So yes, early-marriage champs, the longer we stayed unmarried, the greater our chances of sexual screwups. You win on that one.
But sex isn’t enough to hold up an argument for early marriage (though we hear it (Link): again and again).
Single Christians have the opportunity to throw the curve—to demonstrate that a life devoted to honoring Christ is in fact possible outside of the binds of marriage.
Exercising restraint and resolve to live a biblical singlehood speaks volumes to our fellow single men and women who treat sex as a casual thing. Living out Christian singlehood might also instill a bit of hope in the hearts of our nonbelieving friends; hope that there is more to life in your 20s and 30s than sex on the first date and late night booty calls. And trust me, folks, God is sovereign in our singlehood.
Marriage isn’t the solution to the immaturity of today’s 20-somethings. We don’t become grownups by putting a ring on it. My prayer for my generation is that we can grow into more mature followers of Christ, living as brothers and sisters in the faith as we walk through this journey.
…God doesn’t give us a timeline for when we need to marry; never do we reach cutoff point and become “leftovers.”…
Read the rest by clicking here.
—–Related posts, this blog:—-
(Link): Male Preacher Marries For First Time At Age 44
(Link): I Married Young. I Was Widowed Young. I Never Want A Long-Term Partner Again by R. Woolf
(Link): The Nauseating Push by Evangelicals for Early Marriage
(Link): Let’s Kiss Dating Hello – Ring By Spring Culture at Christian Campuses, by N. Sheets
(Link): A Response by Colon to Regnerus Re: Misguided Early Marriage Propaganda
(Link): Rush to early marriage feeds Utah’s higher-than-average divorce rate (article)
(Link): Marrying Young – from “Stuff Christian Culture Likes,” by Stephanie Drury
(Link): Secular Media Also Pushing Early Marriage
(Link): Links: Delayed Marriage and How Straight People Paved the Way for Gay Marriage
Christian Pundit 