Farzana Iqbal's family arranged for her to be married to her cousin. She chose instead to marry a man she loved. Yesterday she was attacked with bricks by her father, two brothers, and her former fiancé. She suffered severe head injuries and was pronounced dead at a hospital. Around a thousand Pakistani women are murdered every year by their Muslim families in so-called "honor" killings.
Meanwhile, an article on the Daily Beast website predicts that gay marriage will escalate the transition in America away from marital monogamy. The writer foresees a "sex-positive, body-affirming compact between two adults that allows for a wide range of intimate and emotional experience," including "open marriage" and "polyamory" (being married to more than one person). He cites a report that half of gay marriages are not monogamous (he believes the actual number is "more like three-quarters"), and believes this approach to fidelity will influence other marriages in our country.
G. K. Chesterton wisely noted, "When people stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing—they believe in anything." Muslims who support "honor" killings violate the sixth commandment, "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13). Those who reject marital monogamy violate the seventh, "You shall not commit adultery" (v. 14). J. V. L. Casserley, a brilliant British philosopher-theologian, observed that we do not break God's commandments—we break ourselves on them. The man who jumps out of a 10th story window doesn't break the law of gravity, according to Casserley—he illustrates it.
Do God's principles for life and marriage work? Contrary to the widely reported myth that Christians divorce at the same rate as the general public, recent studies show that church attendance drops the divorce rate 25-50 percent compared to those who don't attend. Worship attendance also increases happiness in marriage and produces other dramatic life and marriage outcomes.
The contractor who built my house understands it better than I do. The engineers who designed my car can repair it better than I can. Why would we think that we can ignore or violate without consequence the life principles revealed by our Creator to his creation? Muslims believe the lie that the Qur'an supersedes the Bible. Moral relativists believe the lie that all truth is subjective. What are Bible-believing Christians to do?
First, align your life, marriage, and values with Scripture. I cannot give you what I do not have, or lead you further than I am willing to go. Our example is our first witness. Second, build authentic, reciprocal relationships with those who do not know or believe God's word. Earn the right to share your beliefs by listening to theirs. Pray for the Spirit to use your salt and light as he leads your friend to Jesus. Third, stay humble and joyful. Oswald Chambers believed that God gives us discernment not so we can criticize, but so we can intercede. He warned us to "beware of anything that puts you in the superior person's place."
Culture-changing Christians are beggars helping other beggars find bread.
Publication date: May 27, 2014
