Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 178:712 (Oct 2021)
Article: The Table Briefing: Blended Families
Author: Darrell L. Bock

BSac 178:712 (October-December 2021) p. 481

The Table Briefing: Blended Families

Darrell L. Bock

and

Kymberli M. Cook

Darrell L. Bock is Senior Research Professor in New Testament Studies and Executive Director for Cultural Engagement at Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas. Kymberli M. Cook is Assistant Director of the Hendricks Center and a PhD student in theological studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Stepfamilies have a bad reputation. They have had it for a long time. Many fairy tales chronicle children’s struggles under a stepparent’s selfish demands. Stories like Cheaper by the Dozen demonstrate the sometimes comedic, sometimes heartbreaking reality of kids having to learn to live with other kids and other parents. It is rarely anyone’s ideal situation and is often presented as a home life outside what it means to be “normal.” Ron Deal, director for Family Life Blended, has spent much of his career challenging that narrative and equipping blended families to live godly lives. The Hendricks Center has hosted Ron several times to talk through the realities of a societal majority of “non-traditional” families and practical implications for the Church.

Leave It To Beaver Is In The 8%

The definition of what constitutes a “normal” family in society and particularly in the body of Christ needs reorientation. Historically, society viewed a typical family as consisting of one man married to one woman living with their biological children—oftentimes with the man as the sole breadwinner. At a recent cultural engagement chapel at Dallas Theological Seminary, Ron pointed out this understanding accounts for less than 8% of the current families in the United States. In an earlier podcast, he attempted to normalize a more “nontraditional” home life, “We estimate in our ministry that easily one third of all weddings in the US today, at least a third, are giving birth to a blended family. It could be as high as 40%.” He and Darrell Bock, executive director of cultural engagement at the

BSac 178:712 (October-December 2021) p. 482

Hendricks Center, tackled this reality that the Church seems to bypass.

Deal: Fifteen percent of first marriages in today’s culture form blended families. If you’ve got one little pathway into blended family living and that’s all you can imagine, then you are missing a large percentage of the people in your church. I still have pastors go, “I’m not sure how many divorced-remarried couples we have.” Well, how many widowed remarried couples do you have? How many first marriage blended families? You’ve got to widen your lens. This is 40% of families raising children.