Christian Family

Family Matters

The Christian Family is a little church, a little government and a little society. It shapes the foundation of the church, and of society itself. Future generations depend on the leadership found in the home, and the values they receive there.

The Family is a God-ordained institution, a spiritual and organic unity, that was established for the cultural mandate of 1) glorifying the Creator, and 2) subduing the earth. In this mandate (Genesis 2) the duties of the husband, wife, children, masters and servants are encompassed, and the Scriptures readily set forth a theology of domestical duties. Husbands, wives and children have specific, God-honoring duties to perform in their respective stations in the economy of God’s redemptive plan. Their goal as a family is to 1) honor God, 2) edify the church and 3) promote Christian values in their respective stations of society. All this stems from the moral and spiritual values enumerated in the home and functioning to honor Christ Jesus. In this regard was the Puritan conception of the family or household. Dr. William Perkins described the family as a “little church”, Dr. William Gouge called it the “seminary of the Church and commonwealth…” and Rev. Richard Baxter characterized the home as “a church… a society of Christians combined for the better worshipping and serving God.” Rev. Lewis Bayly taught that “what the preacher is in the pulpit, the same the Christian householder is in his house.” He was quoting Augustine. The family, then, is the most important institution in society paralleling the relationship of Christ and the Church. Thus, Paul, carried by the Holy Spirit, rightly demonstrates this in Ephesians 5:22-6:9 in the manner of the duty of the husband, of the wife, of the children, and of masters and salves in the household.