"Fighting for your Family"

I started this blog update weeks ago, but due to the craziness that is my life (and maybe a little bit of laziness) I have yet to finish it, so now that I have some down time I figure I might as well finish it. 

Something that I’ve always been passionate about but am becoming increasingly more passionate about is family.  I am continually blessed by my family and truly consider them the greatest blessing I’ve ever received other than my salvation.  I think my family experiences plus getting to see others’ family experiences stem my passion for family, but the more I learn about the Bible, the more passionate I get about families, but not just families, biblical families.  Every family is different, but there are certain things that all families that claim to be Christians should do and so when I saw that last Sunday’s sermon was titled “Fighting for your Family,” I got really excited.  I was especially excited when I learned that the guy who would be preaching was the guy who had been teaching at FBC Forsyth’s Disciple Now Weekend, because it would allow me to have a glimpse of what the youth had been learning all weekend. 

The sermon was based on Deuteronomy 6:1-9.  The first point that really stuck out to me was that our spiritual walks are ultimately our own responsibility and others have a way of revealing our true character.  The next thing is that it is our responsibility to teach our children the truth.  I think this especially rings true because I’ve seen so often how people are so quick to blame others for their failures, myself included.   I’ve seen so many parents blame youth pastors, teachers, etc. for their kids not living up to what their parents think they should be.  We blame the church, the schools, and whoever else we can for our failures.  Well guess what, it’s not the church that has failed, it is the home that has failed.  (Now there are some things that I think the church could definitely be better, but that is a completely different tangent that you probably don’t want me to get off on right now.)  Seriously though, let’s just look at some examples of how the home has failed (and these examples come from me not from the sermon):  the fact that the divorce rate is practically the same for Christians as it is for non-Christians, the fact that so many people that were raised in the church walk away when they get to college, the fact that so many “Christians” look just like the rest of the world, need I go on?  Robert has what he calls the “Batman and Robin Principle” where parents should be Batman and the church should be Robin.  The church is here to help, but it is ultimately the parents’ responsibility to teach their children the truth.  Nehemiah 4:14 talks about how opposition will come but we should remember the Lord and fight for our family.  Robert made the point that fathers are not mentioned in that verse because they should be the ones fighting because it is the men’s job to be spiritual leaders.  (This is where I tell you that if you haven’t seen the movie, Courageous, you should go rent it today and watch it…) 

So there is my ramble about the family and some of what a biblical family should look like.  For those of you who are like me and are single with no prospects, you may be thinking, “How does this apply to me right now?” well let me tell you.  One thing that Robert said that really struck home with me was that if God is not the center of my life now, He will not be the center of my marriage nor my parenting.  I want Him to be the center of my marriage and my parenting, so He needs to be the center of my life now, and I want Him to be the center of my life.  I am nothing without Him and He deserves my everything. 

To go along with this sermon, Chad Hampsch gave a talk during the KI reunion about family and parenting.  It was a great talk and will probably prompt a blog update later on, but for now I’m heading out to go babysit those precious Hampsch kiddos.  Thanks for reading my ramblings… hopefully there will be more to come soon.