Faith & Spirit Quote by Jerry B. Jenkins

“Of course” is doing sneaky work here: it frames the claim as self-evident, almost tiredly obvious, as if anyone paying attention has already noticed the wreckage. Jenkins isn’t just lamenting bad marriages; he’s normalizing the diagnosis to sharpen the indictment. If something is “so pervasive” it “invaded” even the faith community, then the problem isn’t a handful of unlucky couples. It’s structural, cultural, and contagious.

The verb “invaded” is the tell. It imagines dysfunction as an outside force breaching a guarded space, which flatters the faith community’s self-image as a moral refuge while still admitting failure. That’s the subtext: we were supposed to be different, and yet we’re not. The line both protects and punctures religious exceptionalism. It suggests that spiritual identity and church attendance don’t function as automatic vaccines against relational decay, especially when modern pressures (individualism, porn culture, economic stress, unrealistic romantic narratives) seep into the pews.

As a novelist best known for evangelical-adjacent storytelling, Jenkins is also writing to an audience that often treats marriage as theology made visible. In that context, “bad marriages” aren’t merely private disappointments; they’re reputational crises. The intent feels pastoral as much as critical: name the problem plainly, remove the illusion of immunity, and create urgency for intervention. By admitting the infection is already inside the walls, Jenkins pushes readers toward accountability rather than scapegoating “the world” outside.