The Family

Marriage is the norm for mankind; the idea of the lone individual living on his own is an exception reserved for special circumstances such as existed in the early church (1 Cor. 7:1-9). Husband and wife are one flesh and should, as their relationship matures, become increasingly united in mind and purpose Gen. 2:24; Mark 10:8; Eph. 5:31). Their children need to see that togetherness and become a part of it as well. The family then becomes a unit, bonded together in love and faith, a functional element in the body of Christ, a force dedicated to the renewal of the world.

The family is a reflection of the godhead where we see the Father, the Son and the Spirit in perfect union governing their creation. God tells us that we have been created in His image as individuals but also as families. We should emulate our Creator and, other than in special circumstances, live as families. They should work toward achieving God’s ideal: to be united and unified in purpose, with all their members content and satisfied in their respective roles. Wherever possible, what families do they should do together; each member contributing (as ability permits) to all it does. Divorce should be unthinkable and seen as an extreme disaster, greater even than death.

The members of the godhead do not act as independent individuals but always act in complete unity with each other. Sinful man today does not have such unity within his families and therefore acts primarily as disjoint individuals. Unity in the larger society must begin with unity in the family. The family is everyone’s original training ground. What is learned there is never really lost. It colors everything that is learned subsequently. Today’s disjoint families cannot bring unity to the larger society because they have little or no unity in themselves.

Godly families, though, should emulate their Creator by attempting to approach Him in unity as in all other respects. Without diminishing their individual roles within the family, each member should strive to constantly improve the level of family unity. As this objective is taken seriously and pursued, godly families will become less fragmented and more of one mind. They will then be able to export their internal unity to the larger society and the world will gradually change.

Families form the core of society and societal organizations and contribute toward the shaping of the larger society. Families that are unified within themselves bring their values with them wherever they go and cannot help but influence their corner of society. When like-minded families join together and act in unison, their influence is magnified and can become world-changing. This is the means whereby the Christian faith will one day become the universal faith of all the nations.