. :: At Home in The Light House

At Home in The Light House

"The future of humanity passes by way of the family."
Pope John Paul II

"The home is the place where our names are first uttered with love and therefore where we first discover that we mean something. It is the site where both human beings and human values first make their appearance in the world. It is the center from which we define and understand the nature of everything we encounter in the world. The home, then, is not one thing among many in a world of things; nor is it merely the product of a culture. Rather, the world of things derives its sense, and a culture its significance, from their relationship to the home. Without the home, everything else in the world or in a culture is meaningless."

David Patterson
Why the church cares about the family

The church cares about the family because the church knows that the Home of the Family is the first manifestation of the presence of God - Matthew 18.20.

The church cares about the family because the church knows that the Home of the Family was the first order of society designed by God (Gen 1.27-28, 2.23-24) and will be the last order of society accepted by God (Rev 19.7-9).

Through extensive research on this matter, I have yet to find any group, body, organization, or philosophy that does not recognize that FAMILY is the core building block of all society. What we think about the family matters to society. What we think makes a healthy family determines whether we will have a healthy society. If we do not have a healthy society, there is probably some family-based "disease" that is at the root of the problem.

Consider the examples of strong families (and the great blessings that came from those families) found in the Book of Genesis alone: Enoch's Family, Noah's family, Abraham's family, Joseph/Jacob's family. These families all existed long before the church. Therefore God's plan and purpose for the world is no where limited to the activity of the church.

The church cares about the family because the church knows that the Home of the Family is the primary point at which God infuses His will, love, and power into the world: Psalm 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.

The church cares about the family because the church knows that the Home of the Family depends on God for the blessing of health: "And the first of all the first fruits of every kind and every contribution of every kind, from all your contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the first of your dough to cause a blessing to rest on your house." (Ezekiel 44:30)

The church cares about the family because the church knows that Christians have the privilege and the responsibility to live a successful life (Lifting the Light Through Love) - according to the teaching of Scripture - and through their healthy families give others hope.

Living In The LightHouse

Matthew 5.16 calls us to shine our light. If nothing is more important in all the world than family, then our families are the single best way to show the Glory of God to a darkening world. If you are not currently living in the LightHouse, a home that shows the Glory of God, then I pray that these words will convince you to move in.

Three dimensions that address not only a healthy, happy HOME, but also that will help restore God's will in society.
       Autonomy
       Integrity
       Beauty

The Autonomy of the Home

Contrary to aggressively pursued social theory, it does not "take a village" to raise a child or to make a healthy family and home. Only someone seeking to control the Village would say such a thing!!

God spoke to the autonomy or the specialness of the home when he ordered Passover to be taken house by house, not village by village (Exodus 12.3). God spoke to the autonomy of the home when he ordered that the Sabbath (day of rest) be observed within one's household, not in the café, coliseum, or community park (Leviticus 23.3). The Home of the Family is certainly a sacred place. We have the option to take our families into the world, but the world does not have the option to come into our home. The Home of the Family is not about performance. The only standard by which a home can be measured is how much love the individuals within the family exchange among each other. It is not suitable to bring worldly or even "church" social standards to bear in judging another's family. Families are sovereign.

MAJOR POINT:
Furthermore, other people's perceptions are largely invalid in that they cannot transcend the "veil" of the family. This is a particular difficulty in a close community like the church. We are called upon to love and care for each other just as if they were family. But we have to be even more careful in the church community not to invade the Autonomy of the family.

When you see child of a church member misbehaving you have some rights and some limits. You may rebuke the child and I suggest that you immediately bring that rebuke to the attention of the parent. You do not have the right to suggest that that parent be a better parent. You do not have the right to flatter yourself into thinking that if those people would just be more like you - everything would be better.

If your home is in order then I PROMISE, other families will want to be around you and discover your secret. The parent of a misbehaving child will be asking you what to do!

If people are not asking you for advice, or worse - your opinion - on how to build a home, then there may be a reason.

Close your mouth, open your eyes, MYOB, and pray like a saint for God to work in that home and yours.

You will have done your full Christian duty.

The Integrity of the Home

A good definition of what is a home, a family, and the values that really foster a "healthy" family must include a sense of "perpetuity." The healthy continuance of the Home was on King David's mind as he prayed:
"Now therefore, may it please Thee to bless the house of Thy servant, that it may continue forever before Thee. For Thou, O Lord GOD, hast spoken; and with Thy blessing may the house of Thy servant be blessed forever." (2 Sam 7:29)

A family must be a self-perpetuating system. Think about that. Do you agree?

The FAMILY is a bilological / moral system. It is biological in that families are composed of humans who are conceived and sustained by biological processes. Family is also a moral process in that these biological processes must be defined, honored, and implemented in the proper way. "Dysfunctional" (do not function to perpetuate the healthy family) family styles and systems are processes that violate:
the biology of family (abortion, homosexuality, adultery, physical abuse, etc)
the morality of family (divorce, unforgiveness, emotional abuse, lack of love, etc.)

These are termed "dysfunctional" styles because a such family cannot function or reproduce itself as a family. Society, from a Judeo-Christian perspective (and agreed upon by everybody I have ever run into) is founded upon the Family. If the family does not exist and thrive - then neither can society.

According to some theories of what makes a family, my family is dysfunctional. BUT We are all in an endurance race of faith and ideas. My family is based on a faith in a notion of family that has endured for 6000 years, and I'm betting that it will last longer than Hollywood's or liberal Washington's view of the family.

The U. S. Supreme Court declared in 1885 that any prospective state had to have law resting on 'the basis of the idea of the family, as consisting in and springing from the union for life of one man and one woman in the holy estate of matrimony; the sure foundation of all that is stable and noble in our civilization, the best guaranty of that reverent morality which is the source of all beneficent progress in social and political improvement.

Let marriage be held in honor among all.
Hebrews 13:4a

The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked,
but He blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
Proverbs 3:33

The church is deeply convinced that only by
the acceptance of the Gospel are the hopes that man legitimately places
in marriage and in the family capable of being fulfilled.
Pope John Paul II

MAJOR POINT:
The Integrity (health) of the Home is the solution to all the things we seek for ourselves, our families, children, and society.

*** So long as my family members value HOME, then I will win the battle for their conscience, soul, will, happiness, success, future.

***So long as I have a family member that expresses the joy of shared love as HOME, that family member will always choose the values of HOME over the VALUES of the WORLD.

There is a lot of paranoia in the world about people and systems and forces trying to reshape or control the Home of the Family. I have no fear! - Because I know the secret. The secret is Loving Daddy, Loving Mommy, Loving Brother and Sister, and Loving to be at Home with them. I win!

We can't say to one another "Welcome Home." We have to go Home and create a Welcoming atmosphere.

The Beauty of the Home

My wife and I had the opportunity to shed some light on relationships crumbling around us in the first year's of our marriage. We were blessed by God with a good relationship (and I think we did the right and biblical things to make it strong) - - - but we were so ignorant of the source of our marital success that we could not SHINE THE LIGHT to the wrecking ships of marriage around us. That remains as a painful part of my life history/
We as families do not simply exist for ourselves and within ourselves. As the core building block of society we have a great duty to restore society through the healthy family life that goes on within the walls of our houses. This does not contradict AUTONOMY!!

Cultural restoration, like charity, begins at home.
Russell Kirk

The church can not fix the community if the family will not lead. The great list of things that are going wrong in society today are problems that the Family is designed to cure. When I hear about social problems - as a pastor - my first thought is to strengthen the families that live in that society.

What should people in Glass Houses do?

It is imperative that we understand how transparent the walls of our homes are. We are a LightHouse - we have that responsibility to show others the way Home.

LIFT HIS LIGHT THROUGH LOVE

Lift - Lift up and express the values that guide your home. Matthew 5.16
Light - Purify your home's values through the Light of Christ Joshua 24.15
Love - Appreciate your home's role in renewing our culture. Matthew 7.12

A happy home is a loving act to our society.

The home is the place where our names are first uttered with love
and threfore where we first discover that we mean something.

Welcome Home.