The Priority of the Family in the Life
of the Christian
It doesn't matter if you preach with a golden tongue, have a
successful business, own the libs, etc., if you lose your family. What does it
profit if you gain the world, but lose your soul (Mark 8:36)? Worse, what does
it profit if you gain the world, but lose the souls that belong to you and are
entrusted to your care, that is, your family, your wife and children (I Tim.
3:4-5, Titus 1:6)?
This is a matter of priority, of ordered loves, of
intentionality and focus. We must have good preachers/churches, good
businesses, good governments, and our labors to these ends are not in vain. But
if we have those good things, but do not have our families, we have sinned
grievously, are worse than unbelievers in our neglect even of their bodily needs (I Tim. 5:8), and will be utterly
miserable and destitute in the end (Prov. 17:25). Better to part with good
health, than to part with our own flesh and blood family.
This means that our work schedule, whatever our vocation,
secular or within the Church, must not compromise our first and highest duty to
our family, our wife and children. The family is in God's covenant, under
Christ's blood, and as such, is precious to Him. The Lord has instituted
marriage to reproduce His very image in offspring, and to provide a holy seed
for the Church, to baptize and teach, nurturing them in the Lord as His
disciples from birth (Deut. 6, Eph. 6, etc.).
We once understood this as a nation. We have long forgotten.
The solution is multi-pronged, but at root, a return to the God-ordained
priority of the family, of the home, of covenantal faithfulness down through
the generations, of churches and communities that emphasize this priority and
minister with this as the chief priority, is absolutely essential. We need the
cover of government that will also emphasize this, but when the church herself
does not emphasize what God commands, it is hard to conceive of government
officials, in mass, doing so.
But being fruitful and multiplying has a way of scaring the
overlords and tearing down strongholds. Israel in bondage in Egypt, we are told
in the opening chapters of Exodus, "were fruitful and increased
abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled
with them."
From faithfully having many children, teaching them to
remember the LORD and be separate from the pagans around them, the midwives
sparing the male children, and Moses being protected and floated down the river
in a miniature ark, defying Pharaoh's edict of abortion and infanticide of male
Israelite children, God raised up a deliverer of His people, Moses, who was
trained by the King of Egypt, in Pharaoh's walls, in order to ultimately
destroy Pharaoh and his mighty armies, just as Pharaoh feared in Exodus chapter
1. God wrought salvation through means of covenantal faithfulness in very
practical, seemingly small things. Having many children, raising them to know the
Lord, not murdering but rather protecting your children and defying the wicked
government edict.
The very command Pharaoh instituted to prevent his
destruction, God used to bring about his destruction. As God promises, He
always destroys the enemy in their own nets, in their own pits, in ways we
cannot imagine (Ps. 37:14-15, Ps. 141:10, etc.). This is God's story, and he
uses us in it, but He shall have the glory, He is always the main actor, and He
brings about His glory and kingdom.
That King of Egypt, that Pharaoh, died, but then Israel
groaned out to the Lord because of their bondage, and God in His covenant
faithfulness heard their groaning, and God "remembered His covenant with
Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of
Israel, and God acknowledged them." (Ex. 2:24).
Those who are in Christ today are Abraham's children, heirs
according to the promise (Gal. 3:29), and God still remembers His covenant with
Abraham, continued, renewed, and realized now in the blood of Christ, the new
covenant, and gives us, the children of Abraham, His aid, Heb. 2:16.
We do not need to reinvent the wheel. We, rather, need to be
faithful to God and do what He commands, being fruitful and multiplying, not
raising our children for Pharaoh, not raising our children and neglecting our
duties to them by sending them to government schools that hate us and our Lord,
but raising them up in the fear, nurture, and admonition of the Lord, Eph. 6:4.
We must disciple our children, from infancy, baptizing and teaching them all
that the Lord has commanded, Matt. 28:19-20.
We do this in great hope and confidence, despite the
"odds" as we look around us, that God will cause us to multiply in
the land, our enemies to shudder and fear, bring about mighty conflict, and
give to us mighty deliverance as we cry out to the LORD and serve Him.
Here’s the brass tacks steps that you need to take to
achieve these ends, by God’s grace. If you aren’t married, pursue marriage to a
godly spouse. Be a godly man, a godly woman, and in your marriage, be a godly
husband/head of home, or a goldy wife/homemaker, and child-bearers. Parents,
raise your children in the Lord, which means you must be willing to have
children, lots of them as/if the Lord blesses, and raise them up for the Lord,
with Fathers leading in family worship, in example, etc.
At the same time, you need the shepherding care and
preaching ministry of a faithful church, which like finding a godly/excellent
wife (Prov. 31:10), can be hard to come by these days. But it doesn’t matter.
Find a godly spouse, get married, have children as the Lord provides, raise
them for the Lord, and do so in the context of a solid church. If there isn’t
one in your area, move to one. If you cannot find one, find if there are other
godly families, and form a church plant. Trust the Lord, pursue and prioritize
this, or your life and your family will be diminished at best, damned at worst.
What if your family situation is already broken and
sinful? You yourself are wallowing in sin, not obeying God, not loving your
spouse and children? Repent, truly, get the help you need, take responsibility
for your own sins, and then build upon the firm foundation the Lord has
provided. This, too, must be done in the context of a healthy church.
There is good news. Wonderful news. We aren't merely Israel
in bondage or languishing in the wilderness any longer. As God's people and in
worship particularly, we come to the heavenly Mt. Zion. We are filled with
Christ’s Spirit and covered by His already shed blood. Do not refuse Jesus
Christ who speaks to you from heaven. Serve the Lord with fear and trembling,
with hope and gladness, with confidence that He will subdue the nations under
His feet, remembering that the Church as the body of Christ are His feet, Psalm
47:3, Rom. 16:20.
Take heart, in this world we will have trouble, but for
those in Christ, He has overcome the world, and we in Him have risen, and will
rise, and will overcome through Him, John 16:33, Rev. 3:21.
If you lack a faithful church with the right priorities, come
join us for worship at Heritage, to know, serve, and worship the Lord, for
family building, and family healing, as God's covenant people: https://www.heritagereformedchurch.com/
Great article, thank you
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