The family is the centerpiece of God’s work in the world.
We often look to churches and corporations and non-profit organizations as the chief method by which God carries out His work in this world, but that is a human way of looking at things. The place in the world that the gospel is most at work is in the family relationships.
If the gospel is not functioning within your family relationships, with your spouse, your children, and your parents, then you really have no business trying to live out the gospel in any meaningful way anywhere else.
If there is mistrust, hate, discord, anger, jealousy, and shame at the center of your family relationships, the truths of the gospel need to be planted within your family so that the gospel can begin to grow and flourish there. Self-sacrificial and forgiving love must be at the center.
We must love those in our family as God loves us. We must, as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13, be patient and kind. We must not envy or boast. We must keep our tongue and actions in check so that we say no evil and do no evil toward others. We must allow ourselves to be wronged while always forgiving those who wrong us. We must rejoice in the truth and always hold forth hope, always believe in others, and never let our love fail.
This is a tall order, and will consume most of the gospel energy of most people. But that is the way it should be. The home is the frontline of the gospel.
If Christians worldwide only sought to live out the gospel in their own home and nowhere else, our entire world would be completely different. The entire world would be Christian within a few generations if the gospel was only lived out in our homes. After all, if the first Christian had all simply passed the gospel down to their families, and this had continued through all history, then everywhere the gospel has spread (which was all the way to Asia within a few centuries) would continue to be Christian to this very day. But many of first century strongholds of Christianity (Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, etc.) have very little Christian presence today.
I believe that maybe 98% of the way you live out the gospel should focus on the gospel taking root in your own life and in the lives of those in your family. If Christians simply did these two things, the entire world would be transformed by the gospel.
At the same time, if the way we live out the gospel fails in the home, then we should not feel pressured to live out the gospel outside of the home either. If your home is not filled with gospel truth, gospel faith, gospel grace, and gospel love, then do not think you are called to live out the gospel anywhere else to anyone else. Make the relationships in your own home the primary target of your gospel life.
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If facebook is any thermometer as to how “Christian” we are, we are a LOOONG way from utopia! I made a “gentle” mis-guided comment and was vehemently attacked by “Christians”. That one on Jeff Turners page. No, we’ll most likely turn on one another and see a huge bloodbath coming in our future. I think many so-called ‘Christians’ actually do more hating than loving. That’s why I don’t confess to their doctrine. Or yours. It all sounds good on paper doesn’t it? We’ll have to get our guts full of death before we see any change in the human physic.
You need look no farther than coerced conversion to see the source of the lack of sincere belief in the Gospel message among nominal “Christians”. That’s what happens when religious leaders collude with government, as Christian leaders began to do in the Fourth Century.
Yes. Conversions should not be forced, and the church should have no dealings with “the power of the sword.”
May Jesus help us to do just live this way,thru His life in ours and our life in His our combined efforts together can begin to produce the wonderful life we were created for. Good news indeed yes we can.
We Christians are definitely representing Jesus wrongly.
He is the most amazing person of all time yet when non Christians see how we have turned out there is no attraction and often repulsion.
I believe if we represented Jesus correctly then the world would turn to Him in hoards.
The example above about families is one good example that would change perspectives.
Amen
Excellent teaching. Straight to my heart. Reminds me of this:
Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen (1 Jn 4:20).
If Jesus’ love does not flow from me then I may be stifling His very life that He wants to live through me.
Good Word. Thanks for sharing
This concept is astounding,and I appreciate the word…. It is known mindfully … Self-sacrificial and forgiving love is truly the calling in the coined tough love world where mistrust, discord, anger, jealousy, and shame writhe as shadows unseen , how to tell what motivates our actions, to separate guilt , self , ignorance, need for acceptance ,yikes, the list is so long .I can hardly know myself and admit to the great amen …flesh is weak as life impresses given patterns of behavior the subconscious who knows what goes on in there a bit of bad beef or underdone potatoe at a tender age disguises as right living but the core ..to fully examine the core …Give me Christ the choice of excellence always ….Yet to perform that which I choose seems to slip… thanks for reminding me again and again
Dear Jeremy
Why your family is the first priority of the Gospel encouraged me to leave a comment.
First of all, thank you for your excellent blog post on various Christian-related topics.
They’re an enjoyable read.
Today’s topic, the gospel and the family is no exception.
I agree with you that the gospel is most at work in our families.
It’s where it all begins.
As you correctly say:
“If the gospel is not functioning within your family relationships, with your spouse, your children, and your parents, then you really have no business trying to live out the gospel in any meaningful way anywhere else.”
The other side of the coin here is that if we are capable of building a faith-based family unit, we’ll stay active in upcoming storms and in times of trouble. We’ll be able to be a light for other families regarding what God can do when we allow Him to led us in life.
But, as you say, ‘this is a tall order.’
When I read this blog post I came to think of Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People when he said, we have to think inside-out.
The Gospel should always come first, at home, in our personal lives and our families.
May God bless your work through your new course.
I’ll share on S.M. Saturday, September 16.
Cordially,
Edna Davidsen
Amen ❤ Relevation