Weak families equal weak churches

joshgelatt.com: DISCERNING EVANGELICALISM - Family Devotions

Many people lament the general powerlessness of the church, how often children leave the church after high school, how little difference there is between “church” families and “non-church” families. There are as many solutions proposed as there are lines in the Federal tax code, and none of them seem to work. I think that is because too many of the solutions are focused on the wrong place.

When people judge how “good” a church is, they often base it on the pastor or perhaps on the programs the church offers. But I think that looking at the guy in the pulpit is not the first place you should look nor is the youth group. Look in the pews. Show me a church made up of families led by men who are seeking to be godly fathers and husbands, and I will show you a healthy church. Show me a church full of families led by mothers because the father is gone or is spiritually M.I.A. and no matter how many degrees the pastor holds, how faithfully he exegetes the Word, no matter how skilled he is at preaching and I will show you a weak church.

Josh Gelatt is starting a discussion on family devotions, and it really gets at an issue that is in the forefront of my thoughts these days. I have been a pretty poor father and an even worse husband, but I am trying to reform my own behavior to be the leader that my wife and children need and that God has called me to be. That starts with devotional time at home where my children see me leading in the home, modeling what a godly husband and father should look like for my boys to emulate and my daughters to seek out in a husband.

I am interested in engaging in discussion with Josh and others on this issue. We can hardly make a more valuable investment in “the church” than in time spent in Bible reading and prayer in our homes. A father is a fool who thinks he can subcontract the teaching of his child in the things of God to a local church organization.