The Christian Family

My wife and I travel the globe working with young families.As I travel around I find that young families today often don’t have a clue as to what a family is supposed to do, or be. In this country the blended family, the step-family, the single-parent family the “two-mommy” (or two-daddy) family, and the dysfunctional family have all confused us.

In the countries of the former Soviet Bloc in which Sandra and I work, they have a cultural and historical gap to overcome. For the past several generations the state has been both mommy and daddy. Now, with a resurgence of Christian families, and young men and women seeking to learn how to best serve God as families, there is still a lack of role models.

Young families all over the globe have to “make it up as they go along.” While this may be a good method for some pick games at the park, it is not the way to raise a family, It certainly is not the way God intended families to be.

So, I embark on some blogs on the topic of family; specifically the Christian family. The family is still the basic building block of any healthy society. During the Reformation, Thomas Becon, an influential English writer and clergyman, wrote:

Since a city is composed of individual homes, and the common weal is the sum of well-ordered households, it stands to reason that the model for good government flows from the smaller, more private society of the family. For how can a man preside over a city if he cannot rule over his own home? How can he govern a commonwealth if he does not know how to conduct family matters? . . . The state of a man’s marriage will tell you how much he knows about morality and ethics. A good home life will quickly make a man experienced in wisdom and patience, love for God and mankind, and every other virtue.

So, as we look at the family, we begin with one of the most outrageous statements a man can make in this post-feminist society: It’s all about dad.

Until Christian men learn about their roles as family leaders and begin to implement that learning, Christian families will continue to careen down the river of life without rudders and without destinations. Christian men need to step up and be men; leaders; lovers.

One of the major problems in our society over the past several decades has been the confusion of men as to their proper role in society. In an earlier day we were taught that opening doors, pulling out chairs, and generally treating women as princesses was the proper way to relate to women. Then, along came Hugh Hefner, the sexual revolution, and rabid feminism. All of a sudden simply helping a woman at a doorway or into a car became akin to criminal activity. If you tried to help a woman in any way, you were a “chauvinist pig.” (Though few using the term have any clue as to what a chauvinist really is). This gender confusion, naturally, worked its way into the church and into Christian families.

It’s my hope that, together, we’ll rediscover some of the Biblical understanding about Biblical manhood; family life; and the service of God.

Comments, questions, requests, complaints - and even kudos - are welcome. let's make this an interactive study as we seek what God wants!