Thomas Graham | April 24, 2018 | SHARE: 
In my previous email, I wrote about the responsibility God’s people have of defending traditional marriage. This is quite a cultural challenge, I know, but few issues today are more significant to our culture than the defense of marriage and the family. The well being of future generations depends upon the way we value and protect this God-established, God-ordained institution.
The 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, re-defined marriage for the entire country and represents a daunting roadblock. But with God’s help, I believe we can find the wisdom and strength to defend the importance and legacy of marriage between a man and a woman. Of course, the way to begin is by converting our concern and convictions into prayer and action.
Why not consider participating in one or both of the following courses of action:
1. Become better informed about the important role that traditional marriage plays in the world. Many people are confused by the arguments they hear in the media about marriage and family. The Bible says in Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Familiarize yourself with God’s ideal design found in the Scriptures and build your confidence in His Truth—Know with certainty why you support traditional marriage. Take advantage of other excellent Bible-based resources (books, videos, etc.) to grow your knowledge. NC Family.org is a great resource for articles on why marriage is important to all of us, including:
Or go to ncfamily.org, scroll to the bottom of the page, and put “marriage” in the search bar and you can peruse many of the articles NC Family has written over the years. Be sure to sign up for NC Family’s email updates and alerts. This is a valuable way to stay “in the know” on issues that are important to North Carolina families, including laws, bills, policies, etc. that can affect marriages. Sign up here!
2. Develop stronger relationships with your elected officials and encourage your congregation to do likewise. This is one of the most important ways to advance and protect the institution of marriage in our culture today. Elected officials listen closely to their constituents, and even more so to those they know and trust. Building a relationship with your elected official is easier than you might think. Through consistent and respectful personal communication via letters, emails, phone calls and face-to-face meetings, you and your congregation can influence policies that impact the health of traditional marriage and other matters of importance to you (Proverbs 18:16).
For example, in this NC Family article, “Local Citizens Stand To Protect Students,” pastors and other citizens in two communities in our state recently prompted elected officials to reject teaching Planned Parenthood’s version of sex education in their public schools. Instead, local leaders voted to uphold North Carolina’s sex education law, which sets the expected standard of “abstinence from sexual activity” to within marriage between one man and one woman, and includes “reasons, skills, and strategies” for choosing that standard.
Edmund Burke, the English parliamentarian, is often quoted as saying, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” This week, I invite you to prayerfully think about these two simple suggestions for the preservation of traditional marriage in our nation and act on them. Next week, I’ll offer several more we can all use.
If you have suggestions and tips to offer, I’d love to hear them. Please feel free to email me at tgraham@ncfamily.org.
Okay, that’s it. Stay awesome in Christ. Love your spouse. Good things are coming!
