Should Christians go by what God says about marriage rather than what society or their denomination says?
Yes. Christians must evaluate marriage by God's viewpoint, not by society's opinions or denominational traditions. The standard is what God says, since society and even the Christian community need to understand how God looks at these things. Believers should be taught God's design for marriage and follow His Word above all.
Les teaches that society as a whole, and especially the Christian community, has to understand how God looks at marriage, and that is what we have to go by. He asks, "How does God look at it? Not what society thinks, not what our denomination thinks, but what does God say?" He also explains that the problem with the whole attitude toward marriage among young people is that they have not been taught what God says about the marriage relationship. The context then gives marriage instructions: the Lord commands that the wife not depart from her husband, and if she departs, she should remain unmarried or be reconciled; the husband should not put away his wife. To the rest, if a brother has an unbelieving wife who is pleased to dwell with him, he should not put her away, and if a woman has an unbelieving husband who is pleased to dwell with her, she should not leave him but stay with him.