A couple of years ago, Leadership Magazine published a covere story about the future of "Families" with Lyle Schaller as guest sage. See what you think.
First, watch your language. "Language evolves, and the word family is one I would use with caution," he said. "It can be unintentionally offensive. Yes, many people place a high value on the family in our society. 'Family values' has a positive connotation in some political circles, and many churches list as one of their core values 'strengthening the family' or 'undergirding family life.' But to folks who don't have a traditional family structure, which is the growing proportion, it says, 'People like you aren't welcome.'"
So what term should replace "family"? Lyle asked if we had noticed that the U.S. Census Bureau had stopped referring to "families." The more precise term now is "households," which incidentally is an equally biblical term.
After warning us to beware of our language, he told us to be aware of the church's great opportunity for tomorrow: "Traditionally, life was sequential: school, job, marriage, then parenthood. Today people do those four in different sequences. But this traditional sequence, especially job and marriage preceding parenthood, is still the number one way to avoid poverty.
"State governments are recognizing this through the rising costs of Medicaid. About two-thirds of people in nursing homes are under Medicaid. But did you realize that one-third of all births are paid for out of Medicaid?"
As a result, three states (Arizona, Louisiana, Arkansas) already have laws encouraging "covenant marriage," about half the states have legislation pending, and Schaller predicts that marriage education will soon have as much state support as driver's education.
This is going to create a great opportunity for churches to prepare couples on "How to build a healthy, happy, and enduring marriage."
No comments:
Post a Comment