Why has our government gotten so large and intrusive? There are certainly various causes—but let me share one reason that seems very verifiable. It relates to the breakdown of the family.
Consider first of all the number of children that have been born out of wedlock and the number of women left to fend for themselves and their children. In their humanness, they’ve become dependent on the government to step in and provide for their physical needs. Furthermore, in their humanness they take advantage of the situation and even conceive more children out of wedlock.
Consider these statistics which support this idea. On average more women than men vote for liberal big government candidates.
There’s another factor that has added to the complexity of our current environment. The Industrial Revolution and modern technology has created jobs suited to the skills and abilities of women, making it possible for them to be less dependent on men for their survival. Together with family planning methods, the average size of families has decreased and at the same time there has been a relatively steady increase in divorce rates and increasing numbers of couple’s cohabitating. Sadly, this has also caused many men and women to view children as an encumbrance to the point that many today are willing to take the lives of their unborn—which is also supported by big government and Planned Parenthood.
Here’s my point! The breakdown of the traditional family unit is a major factor in explaining the appeal of big government. This is perhaps most obvious in our inner cities.
Consequently, as much as possible, Christians need to uphold as the building block of society the traditional family unit. Equally important is the fact that the traditional family is also an important model of a healthy church as I explain in Principle #3, page 1660 in 1 Thessalonians. The title of the principle from my Life Essentials Study Bible is “God’s Household Model.” It reads: For local church leaders to function effectively, they must understand God’s plan for leadership in the family.