Divorce Isn't Popular with Real Christians

I heard a discussion about the Christian divorce rate last night on the radio and decided to follow-up on what I'd heard.  Here is a link to the article I found on this topic Christians & Divorce in USA Today.

The General Social Survey from the National Opinion Research Center found the following:

• The divorce rate for Christians is 42%
• The divorce rate for non-religious affiliated persons is 50%

Bradley Wright, a University of Connecticut sociologist researched divorce in evangelicals and found the following:

• 6 out of 10 Evangelicals who do not regularly attend church are divorced or separated
• Only 38% of Evangelicals who attend church weekly have been divorced or separated

The National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia found the following:

• Americans who attend religious services several times a month were 35% less likely to get divorced than those with no religious affiliation
• Nominal protestants were 20% more likely to get divorced than those with no religious affiliation

So what do the statistics show?  They show that being a nominal Christian is harmful to your marriage.  They show that married persons who claim to be Christians but who do not regularly attend church together are more likely to get divorced or separated.  They show that being a "nominal" Christian is worse for your marriage than not being religious at all.

This makes perfect sense.  Marriage is a commitment between a man, a woman, and God.  And when the man and woman leave God out of the picture, the marriage cannot be complete.  God is what makes the marriage work.  So when couples become "nominal" Christians and don't seek God in their relationship, don't be surprised when the marriage doesn't work.  It's not supposed to work that way.

So what do we do about this finding? 

• First, we need to make a commitment within our own marriages to not be "nominal" Christians.  We have to maintain our relationship with God and attend church regularly as a couple.
• Second, encourage people who are suffering marital problems to go to church.  Encourage them to work on their own relationship with God before giving up on their spouse.  
• Third, counsel people who want to get married.  They need to understand the importance of their relationship with God and the importance of going to church regularly.