The Christian Home (Part I of II)
Tuning in one night near the conclusion to Dr. James Dobson’s "Focus on the Family" radio program, I discovered a writer being interviewed about his book, "The Most Important Place on Earth." The central theme of this book was that “the most important place on earth” is the home.
Without disputing the premise of the book, Dr. Dobson declared the most important place in the home is the kitchen. He said studies show that a family who eats together at least five times a week has a much greater chance of being a problem- free family. Furthermore, Dr. Dobson contended that to get America right, the church needs to get right; and to get the church right, the home needs to get right.
The word “home” can have a different meaning for different people. To a homebuilder, home means structure, size, schedules for subcontractors, cost, and price. To others, the word home has nothing to do with the structure but what is within the structure — the family. During World War II when housing was in short supply, a lady at church told a five-year-old girl, “It’s too bad you folks don’t have a home.”
The child quickly replied, “We have a home. We just don’t have a house to put it in!”
The home has been described as that place that has to take you in; that place where people go when they are tired of being nice. Regardless of all of this, the home is God’s primary institution, God’s first institution.
Genesis 2:18 & 24, The Lord God said, “It is not good for man to live alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Helen Hunt Jackson said, “The man and woman who create and sustain a home, and under whose hands children grow up to be strong and pure men and women of God are creators second only to God.”
It is in the home that spiritual seeds are planted and nourished to a vibrant faith, not only in children, but also in many cases, the father and the husband, the mother and the wife. The home is a place where everyone should learn about God.
Deuteronomy 6: 6 & 7 (Moses speaking), These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
A Christian home should constantly and consistently teach and live God’s commandments for the spiritual development and maturity of everyone in the home. Eternal truths are most effectively learned in the loving environment of a God-fearing home. On the other hand, spiritual indifference and hardness can many times find its beginnings in a home where God is ignored and neglected.
Next time: The importance of Godly family relationships in a home, considered, in the conclusion to “The Christian Home.”
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Chris Voss is a pastor at First Christian Church, 317 S. Main, Donna.