Note: This story originally appeared in the August 2008 issue of Charisma and on charismamag.com. It is the fourth in a series of six.

The challenges to marriage and the black family have reached an unprecedented level today. In 2002, almost half of all black families (48 percent) were headed by married father-mother couples, with the remainder headed by single parents.

Today, single parents head 62 percent of African-American households, and 68 percent of African-American children are born out of wedlock. That percentage is more than double that of white single-parent households (27 percent) and nearly twice as high as that of Hispanic single-parent families (35 percent).

The black church has had a dominant role in black America since its creation. During differing periods in black history, it has counseled avoidance of the most deadly forms of oppression in order to prevent blacks from being liquidated entirely; at other times it has advocated defiance and various forms of resistance to racism even at the price of life and limb.

Today it is time for defiance and resistance of a different sort. Racism still exists and influences the lives of African-Americans. But the core threat to black families today is not from armed Klansmen. It is from negative cultural and spiritual attitudes and habits that have gained enormous strength in the black community.

Many people take their cues about marriage and relationships from popular culture. Some mistakenly believe that marriage is simply a species of the boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, with the addition perhaps of sex and cohabitation. Others view marriage as merely a contract in which each party regards its own interests over that of the other, instead of the covenant of mutuality that it really is. Others reject the wisdom of nature and seek to extend the term "marriage" to homosexual couples.

It is time for the black church to reclaim its voice and call for the renewal of normative, nuclear families. In order to do this, black churches must vigorously promote a clear and biblical view of human sexuality, marriage and the family.

We must defend the centrality of the concept of the fatherhood of God and its historical and logical connection to the concept of fatherhood in the human family. Church leaders also must repent of their own sexual transgressions and be good role models for their members.

Premarital counseling should be required for engaged couples and marital counseling should be available for couples when they encounter challenges, with the goal of preserving the union.

Black church leaders also should participate in public policy debates that support the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman because the most current social science research supports this as the optimum family arrangement for black people. It should also make its voice heard regarding policies that would create incentives for marriage.

In addition, each individual must take seriously the charge to reserve sex for marriage and teach the next generation to do the same. And black men have a special responsibility to re-engage as husbands and fathers, stepping up to protect their families and be leaders in their communities.

If the black church can find the humility to confront the sin within its walls and lead by example, its influence over time in families and among young people could significantly improve the life chances of millions of black people in this country.

Eugene F. Rivers III is the co-founder of The Seymour Institute for Advanced Christian Studies. Kenneth D. Johnson of the Seymour Institute contributed to this article, which was adapted from God's Gift: A Christian Vision of Marriage and the Black Family.

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