Worshipping God as a Family

Family life is under attack. Easy divorce, co-habitation, immorality, TV, videos, drink and drugs have wrought havoc in our nation. Satan knows that the way to destroy a nation is by undermining its family life. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that the emphasis today is on individualism, even in the church which is often wrongly defined as a fellowship of like-minded individuals. The family is not only the basic unit of society, but also of the church. The first worship of God was in a family. God made a covenant with Abraham and his family. The Passover was observed in the family. The Lord Jesus Christ was brought up in an ordinary family. Peter on the day of Pentecost declared: "the promise is unto you and to your children" (Acts 2:39). We believe that households were baptised on the profession of faith of one of the parents. Churches were formed within homes. In the light of this Biblical teaching there are three things we wish to emphasise.

Family Line Firstly, the line of the church is through the family. This is not to deny the need of grace. However, the children of Christian parents belong to God. In baptism the stamp of God's property is put on the child in a public way. The baptised child is a member of the visible church. The head of the house has to require the obedience of faith from the whole household. God said of Abraham: "I know him that he will command his children and his household after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord" (Gen.18:19). Joshua said: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Josh.24:15). Rev William Still said: "Too many Christian parents bring up their children in fear lest they will go astray, rather than in faith that they will not, but will take the right way. That fear, expressed in the course of the first few years in a thousand ways soon communicates itself to their sensitive souls and they become like you, pre-occupied with thoughts of going astray ("Bringing up Children in Faith, not Fear"). Expected to go astray, sadly they often do fall away into worldly pleasures. Of course we must be aware of the danger of our children turning their backs on God and perishing in their sins. Yet our attitude must not be one of pessimistically expecting this, but rather one of working for and expecting the salvation of our covenant children.

Family Education Secondly, the family is the centre of Christian nurture and education. The family is the basic unit of society. It is the normal school in which subjection to the law is taught. No government could be strong enough to control thousands of imperious wills. The work is done in the small unit. The family is likewise essential to the well-being of the church. You cannot have a strong church without strong families. It is fathers, not elders or Sunday School teachers, who have the main responsibility to bring children up "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord". The Reformers and the Puritans were diligent in laying before "heads of families" their duties in family worship, instruction, catechizing, and use of the public means of grace. Central to home life must be family worship. This privilege and duty is so clear from Scripture and church history, that it is difficult to understand why it is not more widely observed. J W Alexander said: "It is highly honourable to family worship as a spiritual service that it languishes and goes into decay in times when error and worldliness make inroads upon the church."
The parent's duty does not, however, cease with family worship. The education and discipline of the child is their responsibility and not primarily that of the church or the state. They are to provide children with Biblical thought-forms so that even when state help is enlisted for specialist education, the young have been trained to resist the thought-forms of an unbelieving world.

Family Church
Thirdly, the family is part of the fabric of church life. Local churches are not churches of individuals. They are churches of families worshipping together. The children should sit under preaching as early as possible. Covenant children are under the discipline of the church as well as of the home. They should be encouraged to profess faith. They should regard it as natural to attend the Prayer Meeting. The church should not be split into groups on the basis of age and sex. The church is the family of God, and young and old should blend together. The pattern of church life grows out of family life. The natural relation between a man and a woman in marriage is not to be forgotten when they are in the church. It is as inappropriate for a woman to exercise authority in the church as it is in the home (1 Tim.2:11-15). Also, "If a man know not how to rule his own house how shall he take care of the church of God?" (1 Tim.3:5). Failure to follow the due order here has led to many problems. Let us rebuild our homes around God and not only we ourselves but the church as a whole will benefit.

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