In a moment of melodrama a couple years ago, I joked with a single friend that at times voices within Christendom have been so silent or so judgmental about singleness, that I suspected they thought the s-i-n at the beginning of the word was no mistake.

Now, unfortunately, one Christian leader has made that bit of humor-laced conspiracy theory a reality. At Joshua Harris's New Attitude Conference for singles this past January, Dr. Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, said:

He cited many reasons he thinks this "failure to marry" is problematic, primarily the fact that there's now a big gap between sexual maturity and sexual fulfillment: "We've created this incredible span of time where sexual passion is ignited but there is no holy means for it to be fulfilled." For this reason, he encourages marriage at a young age: "If you're 17, 18, 19, 20, in your early 20s—what are you waiting for?"

He also spoke of the "holiness of marriage as the central crucible for adult-making" and of the ill of single women putting off wife- and motherhood to establish their careers. He urged the singles in attendance at that conference to make getting married their top priority. "What is the ultimate priority God has called us to?" Mohler asked. "In heaven, is the crucible of our saint-making going to have been through our jobs? I don't think so. The Scripture makes clear that it will be done largely through our marriages."

Joining this bandwagon, Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine of FamilyLife Today, a national radio broadcast of Campus Crusade's FamilyLife ministry, aired the tape of Dr. Mohler's talk. Afterward, the hosts voiced their absolute agreement with Mohler's message. Rainey added a personal anecdote about how excited he was when his sons popped the question to their respective wives, "because I knew life was about to begin in earnest."

I debated over whether or not to share all this. But it was when Dr. Mohler's broadcast went national on the radio, and was heralded by respected Christian leaders, that I had to chime in. If this one message is being championed and spread, I can only imagine that similar messages are being preached at churches and conferences nationwide, if not worldwide.

I appreciate Dr. Mohler—as well as Rainey and Lepine—pointing out some current troubling trends affecting singles and the state of marriage in our culture. It's good to have Christian leaders at their level addressing the sometimes-overlooked demographic of single people and the cultural and demographic forces affecting us. However, I take issue with the gross overgeneralizations they make about single people. Their comments make me wonder how many actual Christian singles they interact with on a regular basis, or whether they're basing their understanding of singles from viewing a few episodes of Friends. Most of the singles I know and hear from aren't delaying marriage due to selfish motives. Rather most of them earnestly desire to be married, are surprised and/or frustrated that they aren't yet, and are prayerfully trying to figure out how to get from here to there.