Reflections from the National Marriage Summit

It’s been awhile since my last blog…but I need to catch you up on something really significant that happened two weeks…first for me, but also I believe for the betterment of our nation. Dec. 3-4, I had the privilege of attending the once-a-year National Marriage Summit…and no I’m not married yet. So what was a young guy like me doing there? Good question. Well, to start, my dad happens to be the chairman of the Marriage CoMission, a ministry that helps network many of the marriage and family champions across America from all sectors of society. This CoMission organizes a one-a-year Summit, inviting 200 or so of today’s key marriage and family leader for 3 days of working together. This year, my dad invited United Pursuit Band to come and lead worship for the morning devotional time, but also take part in the actual meetings.

Wow. That’s a good way to sum up the 3 days. I experience such synergy and collaboration as so many amazing visionary leaders spent the 3 days making what I would call a battle plan to see marriage and family values restored to our nation. Every single person at the summit is involved in some active way in fighting for marriage and family, whether in Hollywood fighting for movies with strong values, authors, conference speakers, business leaders, ect. But the beautiful part in the whole week was seeing all these leaders come together, and how the Body of Christ is SO much stronger when we come together.

Since my time at the Summit, I’ve been doing lots of thinking. Those 3 days really stirred up so much inside me. I’m starting to see how the foundation of our nation was built on God, and directly downstream is the covenant of marriage leading to strong families, strong families leading to strong generations. I can’t speak for all of my generation, but I know that so many young people today have totally lost the vision for a strong marriage. They haven’t seen it, so why would they believe in something that they’ve only seen fail?

“Without vision, the people parish.” In many ways, I believe our nation has lots its vision for marriage. Without strong marriages, our nations will cease to be what makes America “America”, because marriage is the foundation which flows life and love. When children are born out of the covenant of marriage, they immediately have something that us humans crave…unconditional love. Notice how I said covenant…not “institution” – Covenant births unconditional love. The Institution of marriage is a counterfeit to the real thing; a false document that promises everything but insures nothing. I see the marriage covenant can be summed up like this, “I promise to love you as long as I live, even when you fail me the most, when you disappoint me, when you betray me.” I’m starting to see that covenant love has factored in betrayal. Covenant love isn’t “me,me,me”, its being a gift to your spouse, and even bigger; your passing on a heritage to your children, and there children, and beyond. This covenant love is the fertilizer of life, hope, and happiness. When children are born into this kind of love, they can fully live out their destiny.

Right now, I feel the prevailing wind of brokenness sweeping our nation…year after year of seeing marriage after marriage fail and why would anyone want to be join the list? If the next generation looses the vision for a strong, healthy marriage and family, then all our brokenness will only worsen. We look instead to our government to solve our problems. We long for hope and change, but I believe that unless we start with ourselves and foundation of what our whole nation is build upon, than nothing will change.

BUT, there is hope. We serve a God of restoration. He is really good at taking all our bad decisions, and turning them into something beautiful. Two weeks ago, I got another glimpse of hope for our nation concerning marriage and family. I saw the Church come together, not just church leader to church leader, but the diverse, multi-talented, beautiful, bride of Christ spread out in all facets of society…and I know God was smiling down from Heaven. His presence permeated the meeting room the whole 3 days. God has invited us to dream with Him, and see His Kingdom come into the broken places of this world. And I know that looks like seeing marriages restored. It looks like children being raised in loving homes. And I know that I know that I’m going to be apart of this…what about you?

This is part one to an ongoing dialog I want to start about marriage and family from the perspective of a young person yet to be married. Keep an eye out for my next blog in the next week. Blessings!