Gen Z Christians Are Wrecking the Cohabitation Epidemic

“52 Couples Ditched Living in Sin Overnight – Gen Z Christians Are Wrecking the Cohabitation Epidemic”

A pastor’s fire-breathing biblical sermon on marriage just moved 52 cohabiting couples to tie the knot on the spot — a jaw-dropping demonstration of faith actually transforming modern relationships and culture.

Pastor Josh Howerton recently exploded onto headlines for delivering such powerful, counter-cultural messages at Lakepointe Church that they’ve had literal, life-changing, society-shaking impact.

On 22 February, Howerton kicked off his message by playing a video of a young couple, Colton and Kaylee, who confessed to being “Christians in name but not in how [they] lived.” They were shacking up together, and during pre-marital counselling, their counsellor dropped this bombshell: “We can get you married right now, or you guys can live in separate houses.”

That’s when the conviction hit. The couple decided they wanted to get baptised and married. So just one hour after their baptism, they said “I do.”

After hearing Colton and Kaylee’s story and listening to Pastor Howerton teach straight from God’s Word about the sacred design and purpose of marriage, 52 couples who had been living together made an immediate decision to get married right then and there.

What the Bible Actually Says About Marriage (Unlike What Culture Peddles)

What had these 52 couples finally understood? Howerton explained that when the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus with questions about marriage, He answered bluntly: “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Translation: God created marriage to be a lifelong covenant — not a trial run, not a living arrangement, not something to be taken lightly.

As Christians, God has called us to glorify Him in our relationships. The Apostle Paul didn’t mince words to the Corinthian church: “[D]o you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

Then Paul dropped an even heavier truth bomb on the Ephesian church: the covenant between husband and wife is a living, breathing reflection of the covenant between Christ and the church. That’s not poetry — that’s theology with teeth.

Gen Z Christians: The Last Hope to Rebuild Society?

If Gen Z Christians finally start taking marriage as seriously as God designed it, they could actually begin rebuilding the foundation of a strong society: the building blocks of marriage and family that have been systematically demolished.

Sociologists have proven this time and time again — intact, two-parent families slash rates of mental illness, poverty, and crime. These aren’t opinions. They’re facts.

By revitalizing a genuine marriage culture and establishing stable, close-knit families, Gen Z can set an example for the rest of the world — reflecting the beauty of God’s grace and truth and drawing others to Him in the process.

Dr David Closson, FRC’s director of the Center for Biblical Worldview and author of “Biblical Principles for Human Sexuality,” is also fired up about the 52 couples who chose marriage after hearing Howerton’s biblical message. He told The Washington Stand:

“This is an encouraging example of what can happen when the church clearly and compassionately calls people to align their lives with God’s design for marriage. In a culture that often normalises cohabitation, it is powerful to see couples take meaningful steps toward covenant commitment. Marriage is not merely a social arrangement, but a sacred institution established by God, and pastors play an important role in helping people understand its significance.”

Closson also urged pastors to walk alongside couples beyond the wedding day, saying: “Moments like this highlight the need for ongoing discipleship so that couples are equipped not just to marry, but to build Christ-centred marriages that endure. This kind of pastoral leadership is a needed reminder that truth and grace must go hand-in-hand.”

The Bottom Line

Fifty-two couples. One sermon. No more shacking up.

If that can happen in one church on one Sunday, imagine what could happen if Gen Z Christians across the country decided to actually live what they say they believe.

The cohabitation epidemic doesn’t stand a chance if this generation gets serious about marriage.