What’s Happening to the Family?
What is happening to the family structure? According to current data from the Pew Research Institute, if we continue on the current trend, the notion of a family–a husband, wife and children–will become obsolete.
Below is some data from the Pew Research Center on generational family trends. You can see a large drop off from the Silent Generation (1928-1945) to the Baby Boomer Generation (1946-1964). During the Baby Boomer generation some important changes were occurring. A large technological boom and the rise of counterculture led to a paradigm shift in the Western culture ideology. There began a more ubiquitous focus on the self and identity. The traditional family structure became viewed as stale and even, in some cases, “oppressive.” And, as you can see, the trend has continued. Technology and the spread of progressive ideologies has significantly altered the cultural narrative. Today, the idea of having a family and “settling down” has become taboo. Getting married and having children “limits” you from what you are trying to accomplish. Lost are the days when the cultural norm was to get married and have kids, living a life in step with God’s design.
The first command God gave any human beings (in this case Adam and Eve) was to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). God designed us to form a union, a covenant with a wife and then have children. Then, to raise our children to know Jesus. Deuteronomy 11:19 says that when you have children, to pass down what God has said to them. To teach them what the Bible says and how to live within God’s design. And, with the declining rate of Christians in the United States, it’s clear that family values are not being passed down to the next generation (Pew Research Center).
As dads, it is increasingly important that we lead our families well. It’s important that we have families. If you are a millennial or Gen Z dad, you are within a significant minority. You’re probably noticing that many people your age aren’t even married yet and the thought of having children hasn’t even yet crossed their minds. Which makes it difficult to find a community of other dads. At Generational Dads, our hope is to provide you with that sense of community, no matter your context.
Having children and getting married is also important because it sharpens you. In a world where we are constantly striving to find the path of least resistance, we’ve hit a point where all of this security and freedom to live as we want has turned us into weak, purposeless, lazy men. When you take charge and ask a woman to marry you and then together journey into parenthood, if you do it the right way, you are going to sacrifice yourself for your family. You’re going to leave some hobbies, maybe some friendships behind. You’re going to leave your “childish ways” as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:11-12: “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”
Having a family, besides a relationship with Jesus, is the greatest joy you will ever experience. As a dad, you will never feel more proud. And it’s saddening that a lot of men out there are not seeing this and coming to terms with it. Yes, it will push you and take you through a transformative process. But, there’s nothing wrong with that. As men in the modern, first world we have very little opportunities for sharpening. We actually have to seek out ways to push ourselves and challenge ourselves. Having a family not only shapes us for the better, but brings us an eternal joy that we get to cherish forever.
