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November - December 2001 The Sabbath Sentinel
Be Fruitful and Multiply
by David Kidd
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One of the most disturbing things for Christians is that we live
in an era described as the "post-Christian era." One writer
decrying this fact writes:
"'Post-Christian" means that the day of the biblical world view
-- seeing and understanding God and the world through a
Judeo-Christian frame of reference -- is over. The average
person no longer takes for granted that we live in a
three-tiered universe: heaven, earth, and under the earth. For
the first time we have cultivated a whole generation that is
biblically illiterate. Gone is the "churched culture" in which
the church enjoyed the respect and appreciation of society. In
fact, in the post-Christian era, the church is either irrelevant
or, at best, one among many options." [ 1 ]
Sadly, the statistics in Australia and other Western cultures
bear out this description, and reveal a dramatic shift against
faith in God. This shift is occurring at an alarming rate. For
example, the 1996 Australian census showed that between 1991 and
1996 there was a 35.5% increase in the number of those claiming
to have no religion. The statistics also show that the young are
most heavily represented among the group claiming to have "no
religion."
Christianity's Opportunity
However, a tremendous opportunity has arisen for today's church
to stem the tide and even fight back strongly. Ironically, this
opportunity arises because forces opposing traditional Christian
family values have left themselves wide open. Radical feminist
ideology, for one, has browbeaten women into fanatically
pursuing their careers ahead of their children, leading them to
have fewer, and in some cases no children at all. Feminism has
also promoted rampant abortion and, less directly, lesbianism
and an acceptance of homosexuality in general. Also, the
hedonistic world view of personal pleasure ahead of all other
considerations has led to children being viewed more as a burden
that only tie one down, rather than as a blessing from God.
The overall result of our societal secularization has been that
fertility levels have never been so low in Australia (1.8 in
1998) and they are predicted to fall even lower. Western Europe
has even lower fertility levels with Italy's being as low as
1.2! [ 2 ] This is
startling for the non-contraceptive Pope's own country.
Australia's levels are even lower than in the time of greatest
economic hardship, the Great Depression, when women of
child-bearing age only had an average of 2.1 babies. By
contrast, in 1900 the rate was 3.5 births. In 1961 it was 3.6
and in 1966 it had fallen to 2.9. [ 3 ] Prevailing low fertility creates an
opportunity for Christianity because of our natural advantage.
Christianity's Advantage
A very interesting feature of the fertility statistics is that
people claiming Christian beliefs still tend to have higher
fertility levels. For example, Rachel Meyer in her article
"Which Australians are Having Three or More Children?"
[ 4 ] states that
men who consider religion to be important in their lives are
three times more likely than other men to have three or more
children. She also found that women with larger families are
more likely to have traditional values, such as being Catholic.
Clearly, Christians still have higher fertility rates than
non-Christians, but they are certainly being affected by the
low-fertility culture. Since Christians have higher fertility
levels already, this provides us with an advantage in increasing
the proportion of youth in the next generation with a Christian
upbringing.
Internal Growth
In light of this and what seems to be a given in the quote
below, I am surprised that I could find nothing in the extensive
church growth literature stressing the importance of internal
growth. As one writer puts it:
"Mainline churches have long been dependent on their own
offspring for future growth [and as] long as they produced large
families the church kept growing. The mainline still depend on
internal growth. Our culture's seismic shift in family patterns
(delayed marriage, later child bearing and fewer children) has
had a devastating effect on this historic source of
growth." [ 5 ]
Perhaps the neglect of this issue is because no one wants to be
seen as putting pressure on couples to have large families (very
politically incorrect in the Western world). Nor do I, but when
I contemplate the enormous potential of greater Christian child
bearing and wiser child nurturing, especially in today's
climate, I can't help but draw it to the attention of the
churches and to married couples looking for a good way to serve
the Lord.
No direct command exists for the New Testament church to
increase through procreation, but I believe the depressed
Christian climate in some Western countries, such as Australia,
cries out again for God's people to be fruitful and
multiply. When this command was given in the Old Testament to
the animals (Genesis 1:22), to Adam and Eve (v. 28), to Noah's
family (8:17; 9:1,7), and to Jacob's family, it was given during
times of beginning, when great multiplication to a position of
strength in the earth was envisaged. When the command was given
to Jacob (Israel), interestingly he already had 12 children, but
the command was given for the growth of Israel, God's people, so
that they would be mighty in the Earth. With the current
disturbing trends, the church today needs to begin to rebound to
a position of strength.
Growth by procreation is a simple but sure idea. Just compare
the Shakers with the Mormons and Catholics. The Shakers of
eighteenth century England and America were a Christian sect in
which members refrained from sexual intercourse. All new members
came through adult conversion. According to World Book
Encyclopedia (1998 edition), "No one was born to the Shaker
faith. At their peak in about 1830 they may have numbered 6000
people. Today fewer than a dozen Shakers remain." By contrast,
the fast growing Mormons and Catholics are known for their large
families. [ 6 ]
Also, most of us know the proven track record of many Christian
parents around us whose children, or a good percentage of them,
have become Christians. Do a quick survey of your congregation
or other congregations and consider just how significant the
presence or absence of families is. Consider also the percentage
of those in the congregations who have had Christian
upbringings. For most congregations the percentage is likely to
be substantial. We also probably know small congregations that
have only survived because of one or two or three families
within them. If these families had not been there, the
congregation would have dissolved. On the other hand, if new
families come in, there is great potential for the congregation
to thrive.
Biblical Encouragement
Internal growth is a surer source of growth than most other
forms because we have more opportunity to share Christ with our
children than anyone, and we also have biblical encouragement
that such efforts are good and will be fruitful. For example,
Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old, he will not depart from it." 1 Timothy 2:15
also says "[n]evertheless she [women] will be saved in
child-bearing if they continue in faith, love and holiness with
self-control."
Aging Churches
Apart from the Catholic church, which is the only mainstream
denomination aging slower than the overall population, (in fact,
it had a 5.3% decrease in the proportion of its affiliates aged
70 or more between 1991-1996) and the Adventists and
Pentecostals who are aging at about the same rate as the overall
population, the rest of mainstream Christianity are aging faster
than the overall population. [ 7 ] Anglican, Presbyterian, and Uniting
Church affiliates according to census figures together make up
33% of the Australian population. In each of these groups the
proportion aged 70 or more grew by at least 15% between
1991-1996, a rate that is substantially greater than the 10.6%
for the overall population. Even higher increases in the
proportion over 70 were recorded for the Churches of Christ,
Orthodox, and Lutherans (about 25%) [ 8 ]
There are, therefore, many congregations who are aging fast and
who (if trends continue as they are) will die out, unless they
can integrate young families or go against the trend and find
converts from elsewhere. Given this and given the alarming youth
statistics mentioned earlier, I believe it is not only a good
thing that Christian fertility be increased, but one might be
excused for claiming that it is an imperative for the church.
Societal Change Possible
Apart from the enormous benefits to the church, there is also
good potential for societal change for the better if the
fertility of the devoutly religious is increased. Consider this
illustrative mathematical example. Say out of 100 childbearing
couples, just ten are churched. If the ten Christian couples
have an average of four children each, and the remaining 90
reproduce at the rate of 1.6 children each, then 40 children
would be brought up by Christians and 144 by others. Assuming
all the Christian kids kept the faith and married Christians, we
would then have 20 new Christian couples and only 72
non-believing couples. Using the same fertility rates for the
next generation, Christians would then have 80 children and the
non-Christians 115.
The assumptions behind this example are overly generous to
Christians, but it illustrates the vast potential if we press
our natural advantage in this area. Prevailing low and
decreasing fertility could aid the Christian cause if we keep
our levels up -- even increase them -- and bring up our children
as Christians more wisely and diligently.
Conclusion
Christianity has a wonderful opportunity to be strengthened
through internal growth. Our local churches also have the
opportunity to benefit from it. I also believe that there is a
sure opportunity through internal growth for generational and
societal change for the better. There are no laws yet in our
country limiting the amount of children we have or prohibiting
us from raising our children as Christians. Therefore, the
church should stop ignoring what has been for many churches
their main source of growth. This message needs to be proclaimed
for the sake of the survival of many churches. For that reason I
will proclaim it despite the objections some might raise.
No one should be forced to have families if they do not really
want them. I believe, however, that, if encouraged to do so,
many couples would willingly and happily serve the Church and
Jesus Christ through committing themselves to the wise parenting
of the next generation, and those without children in the
congregations could give their wholehearted support to the
couples who make the big commitment to nurturing large families.
While many would agree (but perhaps not all) that there is no
absolute guarantee that children brought up well will become
Christians, we can all probably accept the fact that a great
proportion of the people in most congregations have had
Christian upbringings and that to ignore this would be
folly. Leaders must recognize this and tactfully inspire and
encourage. Married couples, consider the thoughts in this
article, and see whether the Lord inspires you to commit to the
difficult and rewarding life of nurturing a large
family. Congregations and others, give your support in greater
ways to all those in the Church who have children, whether they
have one or fifteen. This is one way for the Church to prosper
until Jesus comes. The ball is truly in our court.
David Kidd is a member of the Church of God 7th Day Adelaide,
Australia
End Notes
(1) Whaid Rose, President of the Church of God
Seventh Day
(2) Peter McDonald, "Contemporary Fertility Patterns
in Australia: First Data from the 1996 Census," People and Place
Vol. 6(1) p1, p2
(3) These statistics come from census data.
(4) People and Place Vol. 7(3) p31, p36
(5) Christian Century Vol. 113, p1077
(6) Roger Thompson in his book `The Mormon Church' (1993) writes
of Mormon growth: "...the religion continues to grow at a
phenomenal rate. In the United States the membership has more
than doubled every twenty years since 1950, making it the sixth
largest religious denomination with more than four million
members in 1990. Worldwide the growth has been even more
spectacular, passing eight million in 1991 and expected to at
least double in the next ten years. If the current growth rate
continues, within the next century Mormon church membership will
exceed 250 million, making it as one non-Mormon sociologist
noted, the first major faith to appear on the earth `since the
prophet Mohammed rode out of the desert'."
(7) Gary Bouma and Philip Hughes, "Religion and Age in
Australia," People and Place Vol. 6(1) p1, pp18-19
(8) ibid
TSS
November - December 2001 The Sabbath Sentinel
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