According to U.S. census bureau chief of fertility and family statistics, the two main driving factors of this redefinition are the number of illegitimate babies (33%) being born and the climbing divorce rate. I intentionally used the old fashioned term for babies born to an unwed mothers to illustrate the shift that has taken place in our thinking in just the past 40 years. Even as I typed, I was thinking, "Just because a baby has two immoral parents doesn’t make him/her illegitimate". Seems to me it makes their parents illegitimate. But alas, I digress.
Now we as a church have a decision to make. We can sit and shake our heads and moan about losing the good old days. We can do the above, and shy away from families that don’t meet the real family definition (mom/dad/one or more kids). We can simply dismiss what the Bible says about families as impractical or illogical. That’s what many of us do when it comes to other biblical moral issues. Or, we can accept the fact that the good old days really were a LONG time ago and deal with people and families the way they are without giving up on God’s definition of family. In other words, we can continue to uphold what God says about family. We can encourage people to practice “biblical family-ness.” We can cry with those who desire to do so but who lack spouses who do.
We can love people to the point that their children practice biblical “family-ness.” It seems to me that would be the better and more God-glorifying deal. So, my friends, what does God say about “family-ness?” How do you practice it? How do you promote it to your children, friends, and neighbors? The Church of God (1 Cor 1:2) needs to be doing the following:
Shawn's Corner
The American Family
The May, 2005 issue of 'American Baby' contained an article about the changing face of the American family. Did you know that 2000 marked the first time that less than a quarter (23.5 %) of American households was made up of a married man and woman and one or more of their children -- a drop from 45 % in 1960?
Just as marriage is being redefined so that two men or two women can be “married,” another redefinition has taken place for the word “family.” Family, across this country of ours, is now defined as single moms, stepfamilies, boyfriends and girlfriends not getting married at the moment, foster parents, and two dads or two moms.
Shawn 
