In America, the problems continue to grow as the government no longer cares to listen to the people it governs. Instead, it sits in its ivory tower with ears plugged and tells the country exactly what is best for it without having a shred of evidence that this is so. Meanwhile, the things that America so desperately needs continue to dwindle away to nothing. Those things that have made this nation what it is disappear at a growing rate, being eroded by the newest fad or the most recent study. One of the main things that is becoming endangered is the biblical family.
The family has been the building block of this nation since its inception. The reason that this is so is due to the overwhelming belief by the nation’s founders that God is not only real, but active in the lives of men. They understood the sinful nature of man, the dangers of power, and the importance of the family in the growth of the country. Ultimately, they placed the family in its position of honor because God had already done so. Because of their desire to glorify God, they patterned life and government after the laws and institutions set forth in scripture.
Fast forward 230 years to today’s time and look at how far we’ve fallen. The biblical family is quickly becoming the minority and in its place are man-made constructs that allow sin-filled men and women to justify an abhorrent lifestyle and reap the “benefits” of scriptural institutions. Homosexual men push to try to adopt and raise children when this is diametrically opposed to scripture. The same goes for homosexual women. These are not biblical families and they never will be. The erosion of the family is wider than this though. Promiscuity runs rampant in men and women of all ages. Teens pregnancy rates are skyrocketing and “pregnancy pacts” are being made. Single men and women are having children out of wedlock with no intention of getting married or even staying together. Men no longer have any concern for the children they help create, seeing them as a liability and a nuisance. They leave at the first available opportunity so that they can find someone else and repeat the vicious cycle. Women prostitute themselves out in order to find “love”, only to end up with another mouth to feed. They are forced to stretch the few dollars they have a little more and depend on charity and government handouts for their livelihood. Others kill baby after baby because they don’t have the desire to raise their children or face the consequences of their actions.
Children come from broken homes where one or both parents are gone. They struggle with identity issues and lack the skills and understanding they need to grow up because their parents can’t or won’t provide those things for them. Violence has become the norm in schools because there is no discipline at home. Danger lurks at every corner because perverse and sinful men and women prey on them. It’s not even safe to play outside in many areas anymore. Children continue to grow more distant and aloof from society and reality and no one seems to care. The answers that have been used so far – public schools, day care, after school programs, government programs – have all failed. We are losing the next generations faster and faster.
It is no different inside the church than it is outside either. Divorce rates are the same, if not higher, in the church. Children are entertained with fairy tale type stories that have no biblical substance, craft times, coloring pages, and a fluffy, watered-down substitute for the truth. Church going parents spend just as little time with their kids as those who don’t go to church. Sports, entertainment, and ministry use that time. People are more interested in doing their own thing than they are being a family. Gone are the times when families come together to eat at the dinner table and share time talking about the day. Commitment is no longer an issue because people can live together in sin without any concern for the future.
Compare all of this to the biblical portrait of a family. The father/husband goes out and works for the sustenance of his wife and children. He does whatever he has to do to make sure that they are protected, taken care of, and nurtured; spiritually and physically. He leads his family according to the truth found in scripture. He charts a course for his family that leads them ever closer to God and gives his children a firm foundation on which to grow. He loves his wife like Christ loves the church and will sacrifice himself for her. He disciplines his children because he loves them and doesn’t want to see harm come to them. He is upright and transparent. He has nothing to hide from anyone and can be trusted in word and deed.
The mother/wife stays home with the children, keeping house and raising the kids to glorify and revere God. She teaches them scriptural truth and nourishes them with physical and spiritual food. They are taught how to do chores at an early age that they may contribute to the family. They are disciplined when unruly and are taught to show respect to parents, adults, and authority. She makes sure that her house is a haven for her family and for those guests that visit. She teaches her children at home, where they learn math, reading, writing, science, English and other subjects according to Biblical truth. She takes an active role in the lives of those she loves so that God is glorified. She obeys her husband in the Lord and if she rebels, repentance is not far behind. She is the administrator of the house under her husband’s authority and decisions are made jointly by both parents.
While the children are children, they are raised with the understanding of what they are to become. The boys will learn the skills necessary to take care of a family. They will learn to protect and provide for their future family now. They are taught how to correctly treat elders, peers, women, and authority figures. They spend time in the scriptures learning how to understand them and use them to make God-honoring decisions. They also spend time helping to minister in small ways, knowing that they have a role in the body of Christ. The girls learn by doing chores as well. They learn to keep house and help their mother with chores that will one day be there own. They are taught the importance of their role as a mother/wife. They, too, learn from scriptures and build themselves up with a right understanding of what a godly woman is and how she acts. Whether boy or girl, the children are taught the truth about sex and abstinence. They are taught about temptation and how to rightly defend against it.
Does this sound a little far fetched to you? Does it sound like it’s right out of an episode of Little House on the Prairie? If so, then maybe you’ve been caught up in the world’s system and don’t even know it… The world shows families to be very different. Men are either portrayed as dopey dads who have absolutely no clue what it means to be a father, having only enough brain space to think about sports and sex; or, they’re shown to be “macho”, well-dressed men with a lot of money who can take or leave women on a whim. Neither has a desire to spend time with his children and neither sees his wife or family as important for anything other than self-satisfaction. Women are seen as oppressed in the household, wanting only to have her husband do her job so that she can go out and succeed. The thought of being “stuck” in the house with the kids all day doing housework is the largest insult that she could endure. She is not free when she’s “bound” to the house. She has her rights and needs to express herself. The children are most often monsters – unruly, disrespectful brats who are just there for comedic or dramatic use. They are little versions of the parents with no discipline who ruin everything for both parents by just existing.
The Biblical family in America is becoming a fading memory. Unfortunately, it is one of the things that this country cannot afford to lose. The Biblical family may not appeal to many people, but I believe that it is one of the answers to our troubles. I believe this because God made families to be the foundation and He made them to be one man and one woman for life. There are other things that would result if the Biblical family was restored. If children were raised in the fear and admonition of the Lord, they would respect the lives of those around them. School shootings would be a thing of the past. Teen pregnancies would disappear. They would understand that they are made in the image of God and not the descendant of a monkey. They would strive to honor their parents and glorify God. They would look to have Biblical families of their own. They would no longer have to try and raise themselves. If women would stop looking at being a mother/housewife as a bad thing or oppressive, the children would have a refuge when things in the world do go wrong. There would be an anchor to keep them grounded in reality. Children would no longer be aborted for convenience or “freedom to choose”, and would instead be raised at home or put up for adoption to families that can take care of them. The jobs that women currently take up would be available so that men could provide for their families. If men would actually be men, households would be held together. Young men would have someone at home to look up to instead of looking to sports figures or celebrities for guidance. Young women would know exactly what to look for in a man and would have an easier time relating to God because their father exhibits those qualities at home. There would be stability and security even in the toughest storms because they are together.
I realize that to some this may be a pipe dream. Others will see this as pure lunacy because it contradicts what they believe or would infringe on their “rights” to do whatever they want. Some will see this as narrow-minded because I advocate a definite structure to the family that comes from the Bible and not from man. All of this is ok…and it’s sad. Our families need to be bolstered. America is changing and it’s not for the better, but there is still time. I’m not saying that everyone has to start living this way immediately. I understand that there are situations that don’t allow for this type of family to be possible right now (single parent, single person), but I believe that the Biblical family should be strived for in all situations where possible.
People often complain about the situations they face because there is nothing that they can do. Here is something that you can do. Will your family be a Biblical one?
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