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September 20, 2005
Worldview Pros and Cons
A few nights ago at Matt Crash!, I linked to a post by Dr. Al Mohler on the topic of adults choosing to delay children. In a post today at the Boars Head Tavern, Michael Spencer took issue with the piece, saying:
"Finally, The topics that relate to the Christian worldview never cease to amaze me. I mean, I get it, but where we are going here? If you don't get married and have babies quick...what? God is offended? The culture goes to the dogs? I'm just unclear."
I'll have more to say about Spencer's most recent critique of the current issues at work within the dogmatic framework of the "Christian worldview," but I'm at a loss to see why he has a problem here. Let me begin by saying I share his concern that Mohler's blogging and online commentary is often too political. Frankly, there are many more commentators doing a much better job at dealing with cultural issues. On top of that, Mohler's "blog" is often little more than a collection of links or summaries of other articles. Likewise I share the feeling with other bloggers that Mohler does lots of scolding with little understanding. So my point here is not in defending Mohler, though like Spencer, I have a lot of respect for his work at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and within the theological community.
I've taken issue with Mohler before, most notably concerning the topic of delayed marriage. Yet I was not stating disagreement with Mohler's concern in this post and this one. I was then and am now bothered by his inability to understand the circumstances faced by my generation. To date, he has not yet shown a proper understanding. This might have something to do with always speaking at seminaries and Christian colleges, instead of talking to students at, for lack of a better term, secular institutions.
Having said that, I think Mohler is basically right about the dangers in delaying both marriage and childbirth. Yes, I know there are plenty of good Christian twentysomethings delaying both of these things for purposes of ministry. There are also lots of good Christian twentysomethings having fun being single and living like a nineteen year old. I know plenty of them; up until about a year ago, I was really looking forward to being one of them. I guess my question for folks like Spencer is this: even if "early" marriage isn't a biblical position (like, say, tithing) it is certainly a practice that nearly every society in human history has decided to undertake. If we decide that it's a point that we can adhere to at our own whim, we are conceding to drastic cultural change. Mohler would likely suggest, as I do, that Christians should be slow to accept such change. This change is the result of technological and industrial advances; should the Church give up this ground?
A secondary point I would emphasize is that Mohler's position on this matter is by no means limited to evangelical Christians. Conservative Catholics often hold this position in places like National Review and First Things. Nonevangelicals take up the argument in the Weekly Standard and Touchstone. Orthodox believers like John Mark Reynolds and Frederica Matthewes-Green do, as well. Stanley Kurtz has been making an essentially secular argument that says delaying marriage and children will ultimately be detrimental to our social order. So while folks like Al Mohler and James Dobson make an evangelical push - and again, I'm not entirely comfortable with their premises - there are many, many others who come to the same conclusions with slightly different arguments. These arguments are often more persuasive, in my opinion, but I worry that Spencer and others like him are ignoring important cultural matters because of an understandable problem with the way many evangelicals present the issue.
Posted by Matt at September 20, 2005 12:34 PM
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Comments
Great post Matt! I am happy to be in my 20s with two children aged 7 and 2. I only have one friend with a newborn (at 29). All my other friends are perhaps 5-10 years out from having kids. In fact, I have aunts and uncles with children my kids age, but they are 10-20 years older than me. I'm not about to cast judgment, but I'm glad God's plan for my family worked out the way it did. I am looking forward to spending the majority of my 40s and all of my 50s with the kids grown up. I'm even looking forward to being young enough to hike/camp/play sports with my grandchildren. Oooohhh. That thought is really nice.
Posted by: Rick at September 20, 2005 01:20 PM
Matt,
I agree with Rick. You wrote an excellent post and did a good job of thinking critically about the issues at hand. I have to say that, at 20 years old and as a senior in college, I'm definitely thinking about this issue.
Marriage doesn't appear to be right around the corner for me but, while the idea of "living like a nineteen year old" for a few more years is appealing, I'm partial to yours and Dr. Mohler's (and everyone else's that you cited) position on this. It just makes more sense in so many ways and it's constantly reinforced by testimonies such as Rick's. Until I hear something like a convincing argument for the other side (i.e. an argument that isn't self-centered), I find the "delay marriage" position hard to justify.
Posted by: Josh Britton at September 20, 2005 03:32 PM