John MacArthur’s Response To Christians High Divorce Rate According To A Poll, His Response May Surprise You
Question: Is it true that Christians and non-Christians have the same rate of divorce?
Answer:
Some reporter called me a few months ago and said,
Reporter: There is a new study, a new survey that indicates that divorce among Christians is the same as divorce among non-Christians. This survey has been done, this poll has been taken and it has been determined that Christians are divorced at the same rate that non-Christians are divorced in America. What do you think of that?
John MacArthur: I don’t believe it–I do not believe that.
Reporter: But this is what the survey says!
John MacArthur: I don’t care what the survey says–I don’t believe that.
I don’t believe it, and in fact, I believe that is to dishonor the Lord, to say that the power of Christ is zero in a marriage–the power of the Holy Spirit in a marriage. I don’t believe that. I do not believe that true Christians get divorced at the same rate that non-Christians do.
Well, it showed up in a newspaper and the guy who took the poll wasn’t happy, because he thought I was questioning his integrity, so he wrote me a very, very strong letter. I have a large “strong letter” file–this is one, “How dare you question me! How dare you question the integrity of this poll!” Well, I said, “I’ll question it on this basis: Who did you ask that question too? If you just surveyed the people who ‘claimed’ to be Christians–that doesn’t count, and I might suggest to you that you don’t know who the true Christians are.” The rest can be read at Shepherd Fellowship.
What do you think. Do you agree or disagree with John MacArthur?
Super! Glad he said it.
If Ed Stetzer did some research and came up with the same conclusion, I’d buy it. But I am thinking that if you measure the number of marriages occurring in in our church body, and then counted the number of divorces among the body, it wouldn’t look like the world’s statistics at all.
Hmm … I’ll have to do some study on that, in FBC…..
I’m not really surprised. I love his Bible study materials – he truly is a scholar and has been a major influence in the area of living out our faith, but not so much is arrogance and his seeming need to be right all the time.
I would say if he chose 1,000 married people who claim to be Christians, then another 1,000 people who claim to be something other than a Christian, then followed them a year to observe the totality of their lives and the “fruit” they produce, he would then have some relevant data to truly back up what he is saying (or to demonstrate he is wrong). Even with that, you can never fully judge a person’s heart.
I’m still studying this one. I’m like you Bob, I agree, and yet…
Alan: I am leaning toward what you have said too and yet…:) See my dilemma at this point?
To me this is obviously not an easy answer we can look up in the index or concordance and go see it addressed exactly. What I did was go look at what the fruit of the Spirit is in the Bible, go look to see what the Bible says about what a Christian’s life should look like, and then considering my own struggles in the past with besetting sin, considered that to avoid anecdotal evidence (like I believe McArthur is doing) I would have to theoretically observe these peoples’ lives for at least some amount of extended time before I could even come close to discerning whether or not they are really Christians.
The Bible says we will be known by our fruits. Well, I don’t know about you, but you could catch me on a bad day, week, month or even year and see behavior that is unChristlike. I can see that behavior every single day on Wade’s blog by some folks – and that’s not even following them to their own blogs or others’ blogs where I am sure I will see the same kind of behavior. But I am not ready to say they aren’t Christians. In some ways, Baptists many times look less Christlike than other denoms or versions of Christianity in my opinion. But again, am I ready to denounce them as lost? Not just on that basis.
This is a good discussion to have and interesting thought process…
You may be interested in the annual “State of our Unions” by Rutgers marriage study. It really breaks down the “50% divorce rate” with such data as age at time of marriage, education, income, coming from an “intact” family of origin, faith and how long you wait after marriage to have children. The 2007 summary in part says “if you are a reasonably well-educated (high school diploma with some college) person with a decent income, come from an intact family, are religious, and marry after age 25, without having a baby first, your chances of divorce are very low indeed.” (and yes we all know exceptions to these rules which probably prove Macarthur’s point of the power of Christ in marriage.)
Macarthur’s right in that you would first have to define what it means for someone to say “I’m a Christian” before you could accept a blanket statement as 50% of Christian marriages end in divorce. It’s similar to what’s the definition in the above paragraph of “reasonably well-educated.” Some might see that phrase and believe only college eduacated people are “reasonably well-educated” and others my know from experience that many people who never went to college have educated themselves more by self-education than those with college degrees.
Polls are fun but only so accurate depending on how and what questions are being asked.
MacArthur is right.
cb
Would you care to expand on that CB? This is an area where I am not dogmatic and would like to hear from both sides and if possible give scripture to further your answer.
Alan, Mary, you have given me a lot to think on here. I definitely agree with John MacArthur that there is a huge difference between true born again believers and those who call themselves believers.
Well, in theory, I agree with MacArthur. Those who take God’s word seriously won’t divorce at the same rate as those who don’t. The obvious problem with this particular theory is that no one, including MacArthur, can say definitively who is and isn’t a true Christian. Since God alone knows the heart, the only way any poll regarding matters of faith can be conducted is on the basis of a person’s profession of faith. What the poll shows is that those who profess to be Christians divorce at the same rate as those who don’t profess faith. That’s all it can show. To that extent, it’s accurate.
Barry: You have articulated perfectly my convictions on this subject. I know that whenever I speak of what a Christian is and isn’t, it concerns more of an inner work of God that I cannot see nor can anyone else. Therefore the knowledge of whether one is a true Christian or not lies not in our ability to see it, but with that person examining him or herself, and of course God. Good thoughts that I share.
While MacArthur had a valid point in re: to the survey as to who is Christian, his way of reply is questionable. Arrogance hardly comports with the spirit of humility.
I’ve not been married, but I’m sure marriage is hard. I don’t judge those who fail at it.
You know James, that is also my thought. Christians fail, and just because we are born again doesn’t mean that divorce doesn’t happen. It doesn’t mean we don’t struggle with sin, addictions, or even divorce. Thank you for weighing in on this. Wise words.
Dr.: I hadn’t thought of John MacArthur’s words as arrogant, but more full of conviction. I could be wrong here, but I see his point to a point, but being a Christian doesn’t mean we are sinless, and I almost feel as if he is leaning toward this point. I’m still thinking this one through. Thanks.
Debbie,
I have a friend who is a minister of the gospel and a dedicated follower of Jesus Christ. His wife had some health (mental) problems and decided to divorce him. In the state where they live there is not a whole lot he can do about keeping her from having her way. The state will rule on their marriage issue, not the scriptures or his Christian convictions.
I know that he would prefer to keep the marriage together, regardless of the trials and hardships that might bring. But that is not going to happen unless the Lord intervenes.
On the other hand, check out the announcement of some old friends of mine who live and minister in Mexico for the IMB. This is great and right on the subject.
http://sherryandsteve-onmissioninmexico.blogspot.com/
Jerald: You have brought out some really good points and thus my dilemma on whether MacArthur is correct in his view or not. Divorce happens to the best of Christians and while one may or may not be a Christian, that is not germane to the divorce issue always. The second post MacArthur wrote helps qualify some of what he is saying for me, but I am still wrestling with this issue. Thank you for the enlightening comments.