"Marriage" is a pretty contested term. I don't think that is news. But I also think it confuses the ritual for the reality it is supposed to be representing. Thus you have the spectacle of evangelical culture with divorce rates as high as those in the general population. Along with the tendency to ignore the poor marital examples of high profile personalities when the politics coincide.





So I find the debates about marriage to be both distracting and often wildly hypocritical. My assessment is that until the evangelical culture gets its moral witness together regarding marriage it should forgo broad denunciations about sex. Evangelical culture should be in a confessional and repentant posture. That's the discussion it needs to be having but is largely avoiding.





Because if the moral witness of evangelical culture were to be rehabilitated then I think the wider culture, along with our young people, would tolerate a conversation about sexual purity. Because even if they disagreed there would exist the recognition that these people at least practice what they preach, and that the way they love, marry and make love leads to joy, well-being and demonstrable human flourishing.