I knew that if, in that moment, I had said any of the above out loud, most people in that room would have perceived me as being somehow down on marriage and family.
I’ve been very encouraged by the spiritual openness that seems to be a redemptive silver lining in the terrible tragedy of Charlie Kirk’s death, especially at his memorial. But I cringe whenever I hear Turning Point people quote Charlie as saying, “Get married,” as if it notches up people to a higher moral standard. (It’s a good thing if God brings that person to you, but only if!) It’s a downside of Christian nationalism—an overpronounced focus on earthly life that distorts Jesus’s message.
I don’t downplay Charlie’s contributions at all, but I know Jesus knows singles’ value. Just as Charlie’s worked hard for a cause, Danielle is working in her own way to restore truth about singleness, and I’m grateful for her voice.
It's amazing how our assumptions about people's arguments can be challenged by actually reading their arguments :) I appreciate you taking the time to do that!
May I ask, is there an element of resistance to the whole council of God in scripture because wolves and tares have swept in (as Christ said)? So do we fight for the institutional church or know that God preserves the saints. Im 62, female, lived through all manner of rejection in Canada and the church still seems stuck in civic and economical value of marriage, rather than as you so bravely point out that both single and married estates are God given and supported in scripture as good regardless of thoughtless comments. I dont think things will change in the church for singles or married and I dont think we need to be so apologetic for our estate. Singles have historically been a marginalized group. To have that enter the church is the heartache. I have entered the fray, avoided the stigma, stuck to my own, etc. And the only thing I've been left with is a deep hunger for Christ. Perhaps wandering undershepards have forgotten their duty.
This is very commendable and well observed in the face of many cumulative difficulties. BUT there is a problem we face in seeking to live as disciples of Christ Jesus TODAY IN AUSTRALIA as those welcoming the created and redeemed social reality guaranteed by His work. I read you to say that the problematic issue of singleness (among Christians but wider for all our neighbours too) cannot be brought into focus without it being given due respect in Christian life commending the Gospel, for male and female, for motherhood and fatherhood, and for husband-wife marriage. But such Christian belief is now profoundly legislatively confused by the Marriage Act 2017 which has redefined marriage on the back of the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) Bill 2013. The fact that due respect for husband-wife marriage is nowhere to be found in the Marriage Act 2017 can be seen in its prescribed liturgy for civil weddings. The announcement required by the Celebrant is that the married couple are to be viewed in law as “two persons”. And this public announcement must have an impact upon all who hear it - and also single men and single women. This is the source of the most egregious example of the suppression of sexual identity taking place in Australia today. And it stems from a legislative failure that requires no literal public due respect for the belief in marriage as a publicly vowed husband-wife union for life with its own sexual identity. And thus it has consequences on the entire fabric of our social life and all of the nurture of younger generations - about marriage, about singleness and much more. There's more to be said on this of course and the question now is how this law is to be amended without causing even greater confusion and harm and fury. Christian retreat into churches on this will simply be another symptom of the problem which you have astutely identified. The pastoral problems facing those who would live by walking in the ways of the Lord (Psalm 1) - whether single or married, boys and girls, women and men, young and old - indeed have to be faced where marriage and singleness meet in the ongoing life of the People of the LORD - but the kind of "Christian conversion" that you so trenchantly advocate WRT singleness also requires Christians getting to work corporately so that these public legal issues can be addressed with justice for all (and without the performative ambiguities and frustrations of "Turning Point" ideology) discovering not a "theology of the normal" but a Biblically-directed merciful way of life that includes a comprehensive Christian political option of public justice for all. Thankyou.
I’ve been very encouraged by the spiritual openness that seems to be a redemptive silver lining in the terrible tragedy of Charlie Kirk’s death, especially at his memorial. But I cringe whenever I hear Turning Point people quote Charlie as saying, “Get married,” as if it notches up people to a higher moral standard. (It’s a good thing if God brings that person to you, but only if!) It’s a downside of Christian nationalism—an overpronounced focus on earthly life that distorts Jesus’s message.
I don’t downplay Charlie’s contributions at all, but I know Jesus knows singles’ value. Just as Charlie’s worked hard for a cause, Danielle is working in her own way to restore truth about singleness, and I’m grateful for her voice.
I know this, because I actually read your book.
It's amazing how our assumptions about people's arguments can be challenged by actually reading their arguments :) I appreciate you taking the time to do that!
May I ask, is there an element of resistance to the whole council of God in scripture because wolves and tares have swept in (as Christ said)? So do we fight for the institutional church or know that God preserves the saints. Im 62, female, lived through all manner of rejection in Canada and the church still seems stuck in civic and economical value of marriage, rather than as you so bravely point out that both single and married estates are God given and supported in scripture as good regardless of thoughtless comments. I dont think things will change in the church for singles or married and I dont think we need to be so apologetic for our estate. Singles have historically been a marginalized group. To have that enter the church is the heartache. I have entered the fray, avoided the stigma, stuck to my own, etc. And the only thing I've been left with is a deep hunger for Christ. Perhaps wandering undershepards have forgotten their duty.
This is very commendable and well observed in the face of many cumulative difficulties. BUT there is a problem we face in seeking to live as disciples of Christ Jesus TODAY IN AUSTRALIA as those welcoming the created and redeemed social reality guaranteed by His work. I read you to say that the problematic issue of singleness (among Christians but wider for all our neighbours too) cannot be brought into focus without it being given due respect in Christian life commending the Gospel, for male and female, for motherhood and fatherhood, and for husband-wife marriage. But such Christian belief is now profoundly legislatively confused by the Marriage Act 2017 which has redefined marriage on the back of the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) Bill 2013. The fact that due respect for husband-wife marriage is nowhere to be found in the Marriage Act 2017 can be seen in its prescribed liturgy for civil weddings. The announcement required by the Celebrant is that the married couple are to be viewed in law as “two persons”. And this public announcement must have an impact upon all who hear it - and also single men and single women. This is the source of the most egregious example of the suppression of sexual identity taking place in Australia today. And it stems from a legislative failure that requires no literal public due respect for the belief in marriage as a publicly vowed husband-wife union for life with its own sexual identity. And thus it has consequences on the entire fabric of our social life and all of the nurture of younger generations - about marriage, about singleness and much more. There's more to be said on this of course and the question now is how this law is to be amended without causing even greater confusion and harm and fury. Christian retreat into churches on this will simply be another symptom of the problem which you have astutely identified. The pastoral problems facing those who would live by walking in the ways of the Lord (Psalm 1) - whether single or married, boys and girls, women and men, young and old - indeed have to be faced where marriage and singleness meet in the ongoing life of the People of the LORD - but the kind of "Christian conversion" that you so trenchantly advocate WRT singleness also requires Christians getting to work corporately so that these public legal issues can be addressed with justice for all (and without the performative ambiguities and frustrations of "Turning Point" ideology) discovering not a "theology of the normal" but a Biblically-directed merciful way of life that includes a comprehensive Christian political option of public justice for all. Thankyou.