by Chris Steele

October 22, 2006

Statistics in the news this past week met us head on with some serious challenges. As of Tuesday morning, October 17th, according to the U.S. population countdown clock, the 300 millionth citizen was born in this country. For Christians this should pull at our heart (and perhaps our conscience) as we think of the tremendous job we have to evangelize. Jesus commanded us to go into the whole world and preach the gospel to every person (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16). No matter how many are born into this world and no matter how big the world may be, we are compelled to go one step at a time and one person at a time. We should not let these numbers scare us because we are not alone. Have faith. The power is in the Word (Romans 1:16). Long ago Isaiah said, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11; cf. 1 Corinthians 3:6).

Also this week, calculations from our most recent census hit the news waves. The findings revealed that the traditional home is on the decline. 19 million American family households are headed by single moms and dads. 36.7 million consist of gay or heterosexual couples cohabiting out of formal wedlock. For the first time in our history traditional married households fell below 50 percent. A sociologist with the American Enterprise Institute said it is difficult for the traditional family to emerge unscathed after three and a half decades of divorce rates reaching 50 percent and five decades of out-of-wedlock births.

Once again Christians are faced with a serious challenge. First, we must teach God’s truth on sexual purity and responsibility (Hebrews 13:4; Jude 7), marriage and divorce (Matthew 5:32; 19:9), how to achieve and maintain a happy marriage (Ephesians 5:21-33), and parental responsibility in the home (Ephesians 6:1-4; 1 Timothy 5:8). Second, as we preach the message of hope and forgiveness, we need to demonstrate compassion and love toward those who are living in the consequences of their sin (Ephesians 4:15). Third, we must lead the way toward these godly goals in setting an example in our own families. Christians should always be that beacon of light that shines in our ever-darkening society (Matthew 5:14-16; 2 Corinthians 4:3-7).