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November - December 2001 The Sabbath Sentinel

Be Fruitful and Multiply

by David Kidd

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