Recently, I was invited to speak in “revival” services at an out-of-state church. The pastor wanted me to address a problem he saw in the congregation: people not living the Christian life at home. That is the challenge and the calling of all disciples of Christ. We never follow Christ perfectly or learn from Him all we should. However, we should be learning the truth and practicing the truth in our most important relationships.
Rudy GrayThe home is not a perfect place, but it should be the place where our faith is lived out before those who know us the best. If we can follow Christ at home, we can follow Christ anywhere. One writer shared that “God did not design marriage to make us happy but to make us holy.” My guess is that most people who get married want to be happy – even professing Christians.
Since happiness is a by-product, we must have a guiding principle we follow. Glorifying God in all we do is that guiding principle. If we seek His kingdom first, other things (like happiness) will be added to us (Matthew 6:33). Happiness is not a bad thing, but it comes from favorable happenings. Bad or unfavorable happenings produce sadness or unhappiness. Joy feels like happiness but it comes from a different source and is not dependent on happenings. It is part of the fruit of God’s Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22).
Joy and happiness should be alive and well in our homes, but when there is a disconnect between who we profess to be and how we actually live, that possibility is eliminated. For example, what about the pastor who spends most of his time at the church or doing other “ministry” things, so that his children, in tears, confess to not really even knowing him? They beg him to spend more time with them. Or what about the layperson who is so involved in the church and its activities (holding several different positions in the church) that his wife feels like the church has become his mistress?
The church is important, but so is the home. Jesus is most important. I know we all have heard it again and again: God, our home, the church. It is a good truthful slogan. It should be our priority and our commitment. But is it lived out in our lives?
Anybody can fake it in public. We can live like godly people at church, but do we do it when the pressure is on? The home is the greatest testing ground in the world for genuine faith. At home, we will make mistakes, sin, apologize, forgive, and ask for forgiveness. The home is the place where that great doctrine of sanctification is best measured. If we live it at home, there will be no need to live a different way at church.
The revival I recently preached went well. I spoke on different passages of Scripture and different subjects, but I wove into all of them the theme of the home. We had a number of decisions. But as Baptists, we are used to decisions. The real issue is commitment that transcends an altar, church service, public decision, or even Bible study. You and I will never be perfect this side of heaven, but we can be genuine and we should be making progress. It is a lifelong journey, but it is one that is traveled the most effectively at home first.
– Gray is pastor of Utica Baptist Church, Seneca.