Today is a big, big day, but I’m going to start this Monday the way we do every week, with a meaningful five minute conversation about something you probably won’t hear anywhere else today. If I’m being redundant – or, just echoing the voices that are screaming from the culture for your attention – you can shut this down right now. It’s my job to make this the most memorable interchange you’ll have all day…

What’s so special about today?

It’s the first Monday of June. The retail world always devotes advertising this month to “dads and grads.” Lots of dollars will flow for those relational recognitions, but there’s another rite-of-passage that used to crowd into June that has backed-off considerably. Measuring popularity, October is #1; September a close #2; June is #3… for weddings.

Today is our 52nd Anniversary. Cheri and I have been married almost 19,000 days, and plan to stay married until one of us boards our transport to Heaven (when we meet-up again there, our love story will continue into Eternity in some manner that we’ll figure out when we get there.)

Our two daughters and their husbands will mark their own 28th and 25th anniversaries in the next 30 days; among the three couples, we have – collectively – over 100 years of marriage. In less than 30 days, our oldest grandson (25) Jackson will marry Kristin, and begin the marriage-meter in our family’s Gen3. For our clan, coming into matrimony when you’re young – and then staying, for life – is a practical testimony of God’s great architecture for life and society, continuing in the 21st Century.

I could bury you with statistics and sociological studies, but let me be concise and clear: anything God is “for,” the Enemy has successfully turned our American culture “against.” His design for marriage and family is in Satan’s crosshairs…

Read the first book of the Bible: in Genesis, “it’s not good for a man to be alone.” God did not create Adam and Eve to be the first Christian singles’ group; they were made for marriage, and not until they came together in that relationship did God declare that the creation of humanity was “good.” Read the last book of the Bible: Jesus – the ultimate Hero – is coming back to Earth to rescue His Bride.

Recent research within the American church community exposes a more troublesome epidemic than covid that is ravaging our country; government has no insight regarding a vaccine or protocol to bring it under control. The malady? Loneliness; and it’s occurring most frequently among adults who have regarded marriage as a last-chapter priority in a life well lived, but increasingly missed entirely.

According to JP DeGance – founder of Communio, a ministry serving churches out to serve the deep needs for marriage and family life – marriage has become a capstone in life, rather than a cornerstone.

Capstone? Accomplish everything you need to lock-down for life – career, money, aspirations – and then reward yourself with marriage. Along the way, disregard the biblical standard of sexual purity outside of heterosexual marriage and exploit the gift that God always intended to set-apart for covenant marriage. No sense getting married until you can afford it – and it won’t cramp your style – right?

Cornerstone? Recognize that “two are better than one” (Solomon), and that life with a partner who is in it to win it with you – in keeping with those archaic marriage vows that still represent the best contract you’ll ever sign – is the ticket to “your best life now,” and forever. Wait ‘til you can afford it? No societal study would ever find that strategy to prove successful…

DeGance’s book – Endgame: The Church’s Strategic Move to Save Faith and Family in America lays it out pretty clearly. As he says, “Beyond the moral and biblical imperatives, church leaders must not reinforce the current zeitgeist. Instead, they must find ways to push back against the cultural narrative around sex and reestablish a cornerstone model, because, in part, it leads to less loneliness, more relationship satisfaction and greater happiness.” Who doesn’t want all of that?

I’m going to devote the rest of my day to finding ways to say “thank you” to my life partner and dearest friend, who took a chance on me – three weeks after my 18th birthday – when she said, “I do,” and then spent a half century living up to those promises. 

This month, do something to give a hardy high-five to couples around you who are listening to God’s counsel for a great life rather than the tragically misguided “celebrity influencers” whose alternative model was cooked-up on a white-board in Hell, living down to the unholy model that negates everything that God wants for His beloved. It’s the human marriage relationship God uses to portray the incredible connection that Jesus has with His followers, who – together – He regards as His Bride, the church…

We remain doggedly out-of-step with a world gone crazy: get – and, stay – married!