“Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants all around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD.”
Psalm 128:1-4 NKJV
Since the Lord God Almighty is worthy of all praise because of who He is & what He has done, the hearts of His people are to be reverently broken in awestruck humility before the vertical reality of His sovereign majesty (Is 6:1-8; Rom 11:33-36; Rev 4:11). Every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, has the stewardship responsibility before God to seize day & night with an orientation of heart that is geared to be at war, on the racetrack, and in the fields ripe for harvest (Rom 13:11-14; 2 Cor 5:9-11; Eph 5:14-17). Personal growth in the intimate knowledge of Him who alone is worthy of all praise deploys the heart into the ministry of defending the faith as a soldier through worldview apologetics, advancing the faith as an athlete through missionally-engaged evangelism, & cultivating the faith as a farmer through wholistic discipleship (2 Tim 2:1-7, 4:7).
The daily priorities of evening rhythms are described accordingly with an acknowledgment of needed flexibility as there will inevitably be ebb & flow in the family schedule that prohibit the normal routine, but such occurrences should be the exception rather than the rule. Talking at the dining room table together over a meal is noted by Dr. Peter Schemm Jr. as perhaps the most underrated means to forming one another in Christ & has fallen on hard times due to the inordinate amount of extracurricular activities that dominate household schedules (Stinson, 2011, p. 189). Schemm also highlights that the wide-ranging effects of eating together as a family are receiving attention in wider circles as featured in Miriam Weinstein’s The Surprising Power of Family: How Eating Together Makes Us Smarter, Stronger, Healthier, and Happier (Stinson, 2011, p. 189). The research of this documentary filmmaker & journalist led her to advocate that families regularly eat meals together due to the many relational benefits that result from such a practice (Weinstein as cited in Stinson, 2011, p. 189). The collateral damage of a pace of life that hinders this practice is manifold as families are suffering the relational consequences of neglecting one of the most basic & most ancient ways of sharing life together as a means of spiritual formation in the household (Stinson, 2011, p. 189).
Southern Seminary’s Dr. Michael Wilder emphasizes that it should not be surprising that family meals & family discussions about faith during teenage years also impact whether young adults continue in church (Stinson, 2011, p. 248). Martin Luther described such substantive conversation about weighty matters of time & eternity as “table-talk” & should not seem awkward or out of place because such robust communication is not irregular (Stinson, 2011, p. 190). U.S. Senator Ben Sasse (2017) personally expressed that eating family dinner together as much as possible is a key stepping-stone in their home toward nudging the affections of teens toward the lasting & the durable virtues of life (pp. 115-116). Dennis Rainey emphasized, in an interview with apologist Sean McDowell, the urgency of protecting family time at dinner as it is a very practical way that parents can teach apologetics to their children (McDowell, 2016, p. 98). Those times, Rainey explains, were used to find out what was going on in the lives of each of their children which often included emotional, relational, & spiritual challenges that they needed biblical guidance to walk through in order to come out on the other end stronger than otherwise (McDowell, 2016, p. 98). Some of the most important conversations we ever have in life come at meals, observes Schemm, & it is therefore not coincidental that the Lord Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry corroborates this as He spoke with His disciples about His impending death around a table, looking at one another, eye to eye, & eating together (Mat 26:17-29; Mk 14:12-26; Lk 22:7-23; 24:13-35; see also Ex 12; Deut 16; Ps 128; Rev 19) (Stinson, 2011, p. 190). Suffice it to say, family suppertime should be built into the regular routine & rhythm of the family’s evening together at home.
References
McDowell, S., gen. ed., (2016) A new kind of apologist: adopting fresh strategies, addressing the
latest issues, engaging the culture. Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers.
Sasse, B. (2017) The vanishing American adult: our coming-of-age crisis and how to rebuild a
culture of self-reliance. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.
Stinson, R. & Jones, T. P., eds. (2016) Trained in the fear of God: family ministry in theological,
historical, and practical perspective. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
