“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-12 NKJV
At the heart of the essential position of the nuclear family to the local church is 1. The Complimentary Relationship of Family and Church, 2. The Component Reality of Family to Church, and 3. The Critical Revitalization of the Family and Church.
Complimentary relationship of family and church. The Lord Jesus Christ as eternal Creator of the family and sovereign Head of the Church, which is His Body, designed each of these divinely ordained institutions to partner together in a complimentary relationship for the glory of His name (Eph 4:11-16, 6:1-4; 1 Thes 2:11-12).
As the founder of Visionary Family Ministries, Rob Rienow’s magnum opus, Limited Church: Unlimited Kingdom—Uniting Church and Family in the Great Commission, speaks directly to the complimentary relationship of the family and church. From cover to cover, Rienow (2013) emphasizes that the central passion of his treatise is to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth (pp. 1, 119, 305). God’s mission for both the local church and the family are for this purpose so that upon being united in this endeavor, the earth might be filled with the worship, Word, glory, and love of God (Rienow, 2013, p. 6).
This home-church partnership is also described by the distinguished professor of Dallas Theological Seminary, the late Dr. Howard Hendricks. Are churches, Hendricks (2003) asks, engaged in a program of competition or cooperation by conceiving of home as an adversary or an ally (p. 16)? Developing this further, he affirms that a primary commitment of the church is to train parents to do the work that God calls them to do instead of doing it for them (Hendricks, 2003, p. 16). This complimentary relationship is likewise upheld by the parents as Hendricks (2003) notes that the chief job of the home is to train family members to live fruitfully in home, church, and society (p. 16).
Indeed, the home-church partnership is illustrated below as the home is to enrich the church and the church is to equip the home in a cooperative team (Hendricks, 2003, p. 16). This “co-champion” paradigm is what Timothy Paul Jones calls the family-equipping model as both the church’s ministry and the parent’s responsibility are in complimentary relationship (Stinson, 2011, p. 27).
To be continued…
References
Hendricks, H. & Hendricks, J. (2003) Heaven help the home today: successful parenting in challenging times. Colorado Springs, CO: Life Journey.
Rienow, R. (2013) Limited church: unlimited kingdom – uniting church and family in the great commission. Nashville, TN: Randall House Publications.
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.
