Is Your Family a Little Church

The great pastor and theologian of the 18th century, Jonathan Edwards, once said in regard to family life:

“Every Christian family ought to be as it were a little church, consecrated to Christ, and wholly influenced and governed by His rules. And family education and order are some of the chief means of grace. If these fail, all other means are likely to prove ineffectual. If these are duly maintained, all the means of grace will be likely to prosper and be successful.”

There are several points that Edwards makes in this statement which I believe are extremely important for parents and their children to understand. Each phrase is unambiguous, deep in meaning, and biblically based. Over the next few weeks I want to explore this short paragraph one phrase at a time to glean from it the truths it contains.

Today, I want to look at the opening phrase that says, “Every Christian family ought to be as it were a little church.” When we understand why the church exists we can easily see how the family can and should be likened to a little church. The church has three primary functions. First, it exists for the praise and worship of God. Paul instructs the body of believers at Colossae to “sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thanksgiving in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16) The heart of every believer should overflow both privately and corporately with worship, thanksgiving, and adoration of our one true God.

Second, the church exists to nurture and build up believers to maturity in the faith. Ephesians 4:12-13 says that gifted men were given to the church “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” Spiritual maturity is promoted when the Word of God is taught accurately and intently, then application is made by the believer through faith and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Third, the church exists to fulfill the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. It is primarily the ministry of the church to make the name of Christ known locally and globally through missions and evangelism (Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8). Along with this, the church is to be God’s instrument of mercy by caring for the poor and needy in the name of Christ (Acts 11:29; 1 John 3:17).

Based upon these three functions, every parent can determine if their home is operating like a little church by asking these three questions: Is my family praising and worshiping God together? Are my family members maturing in their faith at home through training and instruction in the Word of God? Is my family actively making Christ known by sharing their faith with others and by ministering to those in need? If not, then your home has been reduced to a place where individual interests and schedules set the family’s priorities. When this happens, godly pursuits always get squeezed out of the picture and become add-on activities if time allows.

I hope your home is now, or will become, a “little church” that is “consecrated to Christ.” We will look at this second phrase next time.

David