[Rain Man]

Some of the posters get the jist of what Al Mohler was saying, others are missing his point.

He is not saying that it is a sin to delay marriage, per se, but rather it is a sin to not properly PREPARE for marriage if you know you cannot contain your flesh, and we all know ourselves well enough to determine that.

He is saying that young adults should know whether they want to be married or whether they want to be single. Those that do not have physical desires for the opposite sex are most likely to stay single and not get married. And singleness in that regard is a gift and has its challenges just has being married has its challenges. One is inherently not "better" than the other.

Anyway, once a young adult determines that s/he wants to get married or stay single, s/he should be turning to God to allow Him to prepare him/her for marriage or for singleness. The current trend, both in the body of Christ and in the world is "let me take care of all this other stuff right now and when all that is done, then I'll think about marriage/singleness." In actuality, marriage/singleness should be co-mingling with "all this other stuff" (college, career, finances, etc.).

In God's eyes, preparation for something greater (college, career, marriage/singleness) are not mutually exclusive activities, but rather, they all can happen simultaneously, and in His timing, will be properly executed for His goodness and His glory.

Hope this helps.

ETA: Generally, Al is saying that the sin is in not preparing for marriage as you would for college or career when you know God has ordained you to be in a marriage relationship, and as a result, marriage is more an afterthought rather than something that is an integral part of your life.

BTW, I heard Al on a WCDR (Cederville University Radio) chapel broadcast talking about this subject a few months ago and I think he hit the nail on the head.