Former child star Kirk Cameron says that fornication and adultery are far bigger threats to the institution of marriage than gay marriage is.
In a May 2 interview, Cameron said that same-sex marriage debates distract Christians from more pressing issues.
"If the people sitting in the pews are fornicators and adulterers, the church will destroy marriages much more quickly than those outside the church," Cameron told AL.com.
"When God's people mock marriage, God doesn't take that lightly."
The 43-year old went on to say that while the country is embroiled in arguments over what the legal definition of marriage should be, Christians should focus on upholding the biblical definition of marriage within their own homes.
"I think the greatest threat to marriage is not other people's definition of marriage," he said.
"The church isn't taking God's definition of marriage seriously. It's not other people sabotaging marriage that's the problem."
Cameron, famous for his role as Mike Seaver on the ABC hit show "Growing Pains," explained that the biblical definition of marriage is not just the union of a man and a woman, but a life-long union for better or worse.
"Marriage is meant to be for life," he said.
"When we do things God's way, there's a blessing. The path of obedience is the path of blessing. Love is worth fighting for. You need to learn how fight together for your marriage. Sometimes the battle is so bloody that you walk out. You have to learn how to fight the right way."
A married father of six, Cameron said that the modern church has compromised biblical principles and has not been the light in darkness.
"The church determines the moral temperature of the culture," Cameron said.
"On our watch we've let morality decay, the commitment to love and marriage fall apart. We've given in to an anti-biblical Christian worldview. We're simply failing to do our job as the church.
"Other people are moving into the leadership positions and steering the car right off the cliff. They're not the problem. It's those in the church who have taken their hands off the wheel and given up our place in the driver's seat."
