Threats to the Family

The Demise of Home and Family

The children of a prominent family decided to give their father a book of the family’s history for a birthday present. They commissioned a professional biographer to do the work, carefully warning him of the family’s “black sheep” problem: Uncle George had been executed in the electric chair for murder. The biographer assured the children he could handle that situation. He would record complete truthfulness and without any embarrassment to their father. He later wrote: “Uncle George occupied a chair of applied electronics at an important government institution. He was attached to his position by the strongest of ties and his death came as a real shock.”

It has been said that there is a skeleton in every closet, and a black sheep in every family. Just so you know, I’m not interested in uncovering either. But, I do want to address a real problem and that is the demise of homes and families.

Who could dispute the fact that homes are under attack in this nation?

Families are facing real threats, and we ignore them at our peril. The church is not immune. Whatever is in the world will creep into the church!

A recent Pew Study revealed that 38% of births in the U.S. in 2006 were to unwed mothers. In 1960 it was 5%. That same study found that nearly ½ of those in their 30’s and 40’s in 2005 had lived with a partner outside of marriage.

Not only are divorce and immorality rampant, but there is a concerted effort underway in this nation to redefine marriage. A few states now allow same sex marriages. Behind the scenes efforts have been underway for some time to make it the law of the land.

Marriage is under assault, but the words of Jesus still ring true: “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together let not man separate” (Matthew 19:4-6).

Motherhood is devalued. But the reality is that the greatest fulfillment in life will never come from the nine-to-five world of the women’s libbers! A woman’s greatest influence is in the home and family (Proverbs 31:10-31). The world has gotten it wrong!

Fathers are assailed. The media generally presents men (fathers) as bungling idiots routinely rescued from the brink of disaster by a strong woman (think Ray Romano, Tim Taylor, Homer Simpson). The Bible challenges men to lead the family and home. Fathers must be active in child care and training, and make a positive impact on home and family (Ephesians 5:25-6:4).

Return To A Biblical Family Framework

Family and the home will not only survive, but thrive when we adhere to Biblical principles for marriage and the family. We invite disaster when those principles are ignored. The church must be the voice of reason (1 Timothy 3:15). We must rise to the challenge! The threats to the family are real, but they are not insurmountable if we will only return to a Biblical framework for home and family.