NASHVILLE (BP) — The most recent podcast series from the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) focuses on marriage and family issues, including parental rights, gender issues, the importance of marriage and an important gender-related Supreme Court case.

“Our podcast aims to make hard and often confusing topics easily accessible and digestible so that we can apply biblical wisdom to our lives, families and churches,” said podcast host Lindsay Nicolet, who serves as ERLC director of communications. 

“Likewise, we want to give a behind-the-scenes look into the work the ERLC is doing to serve Southern Baptists so that we can live out and proclaim the hope of the gospel in a culture desperately in need of Jesus and His unchanging Word.” 

In the most recent episode, “How Christians can evaluate cultural views of marriage and sexuality,” professor Gregg Allison discusses God’s design for marriage and the family.

“The first several chapters of Scripture set forth the vision of society with a central element being marriage,” said Allison, who teaches theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

“So from the very beginning, God’s revelation indicates that He has created men and women in His image. And part of that image-bearing is the responsibility to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. … It’s for all human beings from the origin of the human race until the new heavens and the new earth. This has always been God’s plan, God’s purpose.”

Allison goes on to discuss the scourge of divorce and the individualistic attitude of many Americans that makes marriage seem less important.

“I’m not a proponent of having people who are really, really young get married,” he said, “but I think there should be an impetus for us to consider getting married, staying married, having children, not buying into the ideology that’s out there. And again, just realizing there are tremendous benefits to this. And also, it’s God’s primary institution for the flourishing of individuals and couples and children.”

In a culture that views marriage and family very differently, Allison said Christians can lead by example.

“I think we live the reality, not just talk about it. We live the reality of healthy marriages, healthy families, the actual struggles and the joys of both marriage and family. …”

An earlier episode, “A parent’s rights and responsibility in an age of gender confusion,” discussed ideas for parents raising children in a world that is often hostile to biblical teachings.

“Today’s children are being raised within a culture of sexual confusion and chaos,” Nicolet said in the episode’s opening. “As Christians, part of being able to walk wisely in this age, raise our kids to love God’s good design and be a witness in the darkness is to understand the challenges we’re facing.”

The episode features writer and speaker Krissie Inserra and professor Benjamin Quinn, who said the root of all sexual and gender confusion is sin.

“… [Y]ou can guarantee that one of the ways or the two ways that the enemy will seek to undermine God’s good design and His way in the world is through life issues and through man, woman or sexuality — family kind of issues,” said Quinn, director of the L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. “That’s where they can do the most damage.”

Inserra, a mother of four ranging from teens to a toddler, said it’s never too early to begin instilling a biblical worldview in children.

“ …[W]hen we read books, we talk about, ‘There’s a girl, there’s a boy, there’s a mommy, there’s a daddy,’ she said. “And so we reinforce those things from the time that they can speak and understand language.”

The conversations adjust as children get older.

“[I]t’s just important [that] without demonizing people, [we remind] our kids that God’s design is what is normal and what is intended and what is good,” she said. “And the conversation increases and gets a little more sophisticated as they get older and can handle it age-wise. But we need to always be having these conversations.”

Both guests stressed the need for parents to look for opportunities to talk to their kids about hard things. Inserra said she has used Taylor Swift lyrics to spur conversation about life choices. Quinn broached a difficult topic with his son around a campfire.

“… [I] want them to hear the truth from me first and from my wife first,” Quinn said, adding that hearing truth from church leaders and Christian friends is also important.

“And then they’re equipped to engage those other perspectives … in a way that they’ve already kind of been given the tools and the rules … of interpreting the Bible that they can engage those things with honesty, with integrity, and doing so in a way that doesn’t have to vilify the person that represents a different perspective.”

Other ERLC podcast episodes in this latest series include:

• “How Southern Baptists are working together on gender and sexuality issues,” featuring pastor and biblical counselor Dane Hays and Tim Lubinus, executive director of the Baptist Convention of Iowa. The episode discusses key resources for churches and families as well as how the ERLC helps state conventions fight for biblical values in their states.
• “What is the Skrmetti Supreme Court Case?,” featuring Kayla Toney, associate counsel with First Liberty Institute, and Matt Sharp, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom.
• “What the 2024 election results mean for SBC advocacy,” with ERLC President Brent Leatherwood and ERLC public policy Director Hannah Daniel.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Laura Erlanson is managing editor of Baptist Press.)