“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2 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.
Critical revitalization of the family and church. The revitalization of biblical family life is critical to the health of the local church and its mandate to missionally engage culture in every generation with the exclusivity of Jesus Christ, the gospel of God’s grace, and the comprehensive nature of the Christian worldview rooted in Holy Scripture (Rom 11:33-12:2, 13:11-14; 2 Cor 10:3-5; Eph 5:14-17; Col 2:6-10).
Five centuries of biblical wisdom for family life are compiled in a massive anthology called A Theology of the Family and edited by Jeff Pollard and Scott Brown. A family reformation, or, rather, a reformation of biblical family life is desperately needed in the modern era (Pollard, 2014, p. 36). It is a biblical reality that the local church becomes healthier when the state of family life flourishes within its ranks (Pollard, p. 38).
Richard Baxter, one of the contributors to the aforementioned collection, was a seventeenth century English Puritan and respected pastor-theologian who labored in Word and doctrine for several years to bring about a revitalization of his local church. Hendricks (2003) recounts Baxter’s exasperation before being led of God to intentionally equip the home through hands-on discipleship beginning with fathers instead of expecting revival to come through the church (p. 112). As a result, God the Holy Spirit ignited what Hendricks (2003) describes as little revival fires in homes thus spreading throughout the church (p. 112).
The biblical and historical precedent is that when God brings revival into the home, this movement of His Spirit will overflow into the church as well (Hendricks, 2003, p.112). Baucham (2007) credits his work to Baxter who is noted to have said that family reformation is required for any semblance of general reformation (p. 213). Further, Baxter explains that if some little remnants of religion are scattered here and there but are confined to mere individuals and not promoted in families, then it will, by no means, prosper nor promise future increase (Baxter as cited in Baucham, 2007, p. 213).
In this spirit, the stated mission of Visionary Family Ministries is to build the Church through a global reformation of family discipleship out of a serious commitment to what mainstream evangelicals like Rienow (2013) call the Great Commission as demonstrated by local churches doing less but equipping families to do more in advancing the gospel to the ends of the earth beginning right at home (pp. 3-4).
Jones (2013) reminds families that a biblical worldview shapes the way we teach our children in the following three ways: 1. The training of children is primarily a parental responsibility (Eph 6:4), 2. The training of children is worldview training (Pr 1:7), and 3. The training of children includes both formal and informal components (Deut 6:7-9) (p. 3). Ham (2009) exhorts parents in general and fathers in particular to not delegate this job because regardless of what is transpiring in the Christian education department, student ministries wing, pulpit, and Bible studies of your church, the responsibility for ministry to the next generation has never been removed from parents (p. 50).
Just imagine the impact, challenges Ham (2009), if homes and churches worked together in partnership and started raising generations of children who stood without compromise upon the absolute authority of the Word of God, knew how to defend the Christian faith with resolute conviction against the skeptical questions of this age, and had a zeal to preach the gospel (p. 52). Revitalization of the family and church would not only be a reality but the world would be changed by the impact on the culture one heart and one life at a time to the praise of God’s glory in Christ Jesus (Ham, 2009, p. 52).
References
Baucham, Jr., V. (2007) Family driven faith: doing what it takes to raise sons and daughters who walk with God. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ham, K. & Beemer, B. (2009) Already gone: why your kids will quit church and what you can do to stop it. Green Forest, AR: Master Books.
Hendricks, H. & Hendricks, J. (2003) Heaven help the home today: successful parenting in challenging times. Colorado Springs, CO: Life Journey.
Jones, T. P. (2013) How a biblical worldview shapes the way we teach our children. The Journal of Discipleship & Family Ministry, vol. 4 no. 1 (Fall – Winter 2013, pp. 2-4).Retrieved from the ATLA Religion Database.
Pollard, J. & Brown, S., eds. (2014) A theology of the family: five centuries of biblical wisdom for family life. Wake Forest, NC: The National Center for Family-Integrated Churches.
Rienow, R. (2013) Limited church: unlimited kingdom – uniting church and family in the great commission. Nashville, TN: Randall House Publications.
