Is Adoption a Trend or Trendy?

From Megan Hyatt Miller:

While talking with a friend about our adoption recently, she made a comment that adoption just seemed so trendy—all these upper-middle class families running around with their brown babies talking about hundreds of millions of orphans, minus one.

From the outside looking in, it appeared to be the “new thing.” She wasn’t being critical of my family, just making an observation of something she saw happening in the community where we live.

I started to wonder, is adoption just another trendy way to brand yourself as a cool Christian, or is God moving within his church, calling people to respond to the Gospel in large numbers?

Here are a few reason why I believe adoption isn’t just the latest fad, but points to larger movement:

1. There is a difference between a trend and something that is “trendy.”

2. Adoption is not a new idea, but Christians are finally starting to take the biblical mandate to care for orphans seriously.

3. Now, more than ever, Christians place a premium on alleviating the suffering of others.

4. Transracial adoption reminds us of what the Kingdom of God looks like.

5. Those interested in being “cool” are quickly weeded out by the process.