When a culture increasingly redefines marriage, marriage itself will eventually become meaningless.
If marriage can mean anything you want it to, then it actually means nothing.
An example of this is a new trend that is emerging in our country: open marriages and polyamory. According to a poll by Pew Research, 33% of adults in America believe that open marriages are acceptable. The number is even higher among young adults. 51% of 18–29-year-olds believe that open marriage is acceptable.
Open marriage is a term used to describe a couple that is technically ‘married’ but willing to have sexual relationships with people outside their marriage. It’s basically another term for polyamory and is as disgusting as it sounds.
Entertainment culture has been a major driver of this idea as books, movies, and celebrities portray open marriages as “exciting” or “self-fulfilling” or even as a way to get the “spark” of your initial relationship back. Just one popular example is a memoir written by Molly Roden Winter detailing the “journey” she took as a “regular mom” with her husband as they decided to become polyamorous.
Though it may seem like an utter shock to some that culture is taking that turn, it shouldn’t be surprising at all.
The way people have thought about marriage and marriage relationships has been shifting since the ‘60s and ‘70s, and in many ways, it’s more surprising for the young adults in our culture to discover that someone is waiting till marriage or believes that marriage is between one man and one woman.
It’s just sadly indicative of a culture that has lost its compass and is wandering about aimlessly in the fields of moral uncertainty.
We live in a post-Christian society. If you build your life on anything other than the Bible, it’s a sandy foundation rather than a rock.
Our world tries to stand on messages of “do what makes you feel happy,” “be your true self,” and “you do you” as foundational. That just doesn’t work, especially in a marriage. Marriage requires self-sacrifice, being willing to give up your own desires to love another person, take responsibility, commit, and put the other person first. Homosexuality and open marriages are the opposite of this.
Both give into the fleshly desire to build one’s own happiness without regard for anyone else in the relationship. It’s what happens when you make your feelings your guide and your god. You’re constantly chasing happiness over any sort of rational thought, especially since the concept of love has been twisted and idolized by society so that it’s an empty emotion we chase to feel good about ourselves, instead of a discipline we strive to emulate.
Biblically, love is an action, not an emotion. And our culture has mixed that up with tragic consequences. It’s the natural end of a culture that is entirely centered on what I want, and it’s the warning sign of a culture that is falling apart.
This level of depravity isn’t new. Without Christ, there’s no reason to restrain your flesh.
Without an understanding of something higher, it makes sense that the ultimate goal in life would be personal pleasure. But instead of being discouraged, we as Christians should take heart in the knowledge that Christ will one day return.
As we wait, let’s take action through prayer and sharing the gospel with this world.
