"It's hard to tell the nighttime from the day."
~ Eagles
I need to state the obvious: God's design for the family is under attack. When I say that, I usually get one of two responses: an affirming nod, or a look like I have three heads.
If God's design for the family wasn't under attack, Peace in the Home (and other family organizations) wouldn't need to exist. Marriages wouldn't need as much shoring up; parents wouldn't need as much encouragement; children wouldn't need as much moral teaching and protection; there wouldn't be such a shortage of babies for loving moms and dads to adopt; teenagers wouldn't need (quite) as much guidance; and pastors, priests and rabbis wouldn't need to be afraid to expound biblical texts on moral issues.
"Did God really say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" ~ Genesis 3:1b
God's design for the family has always been under attack. Early in human history, Satan led a deceptive, one-creature attack, disrupting a harmonious home, dividing our first parents, and distancing them from their loving creator. Family was the original spiritual battleground. Little has changed since those early days.
Since attacks on the family are nothing new, Peace in the Home is accustomed to running into opposition from individuals and organizations whose principles conflict with our
core values.We're not, however, accustomed to anti-family opposition coming from a government we've entrusted with our votes, or from "Christian" denominations who should be the last beacons of hope for relational and spiritual brokenness.
From Peace in the Home's perspective, what does an attack on the family look like?
The family is under attack when society invests more resources into divorce than it does into strengthening marriages and keeping families intact.
The family is under attack when helping children to feel good about themselves becomes a more important goal than training them to be responsible, respectful and resourceful citizens.
The family is under attack when a teenage daughter may be lawfully forced by strangers over state lines for an abortion without her parent's consent or knowledge.
The family is under attack when birds and fish and trees become as important as babies.
The family is under attack when a gender disorder with eighty years of clinical history is plucked from its profession's diagnostic manual for purely political reasons, launching an era of therapeutic confusion and public misinformation. (Journal of Psychohistory, 19(3), Winter 1992)
The family is under attack when parents rights over the discipline and education of their own precious children are eroded by activist courts.
The family is under attack when health care reform is a guise for universal access to taxpayer-funded abortion.
The family is under attack when girls and women are taught that their most valuable contributions to society don't include being a wife and mother.
The family is under attack when governments and courts allow same gender couples to adopt innocent children, modelling gender brokenness and immorality to the next generation.
The family is under attack when before-and-after-school programs make it easier for ambitious moms and dads to work longer hours, rather than maximizing their time with each other and their children.
The family is under attack when the popular media presents pre-marital sex and marital infidelity as acceptable, desirable and normative ways of relating.
The family is under attack when pornography is readily available on every smart phone.
The family is under attack when governments invest more resources into organizations with nice names who promote promiscuity and abortion than they do into self-control and adoption.
The family is under attack when some formerly-respectable "Christian" denominations embrace theology and practice contrary to scripture, and choose to drift with the culture on moral issues without any apparent limits.
"Contemporary churches need to hear again what the spirit says to the churches in the Book of Revelation." ~ Edmund P. Clowney
The family is under attack when government schools are used to advance social engineering agendas, influencing the hearts and minds of our children, without any heed to parental values.
The family is under attack when fully one-quarter of the next generation is murdered in the womb.
The family is under attack when the voting public can't see past an engaging smile to the anti-family agenda lurking beneath.
God's design for the family is under attack, big time.
On the street where I live, squirrels regularly get squished by cars, trucks and SUV's. When the turkey vulture clean-up crew is busy elsewhere, an unlucky squirrel just gets flatter and flatter. My kids call it squirrel leather.
After being run over by counterfeit marriage, taxpayer-funded abortion, the normalization of homosexuality, and a bazillion other things, the family is beginning to resemble the squirrel on my street.
Running over a twitchy and indecisive squirrel is something anyone could do accidentally. But, an intentional attack on God's design for the family is an attack on the very character of God. Risky business.
For the squirrel, there's no hope in the drivers or the vultures. Likewise, for the family, there's no hope in the status quo -- in the smile.
One of my heroes of the faith is Daniel. He's Judaism's and Christianity's poster boy for genuine faith, and perhaps the best illustration of the Hebraic concept that a belief isn't a belief until it's acted upon.
We can learn a lot by reading about how this courageous and obedient Hebrew lived in a culture that was radically opposed to God.
If you've done some nodding (in agreement) in the last few moments, you probably agree that the family is under attack. We'd like to encourage you to be more of a Daniel in your world. Here are a couple of ways ...
1. Think biblically. A good starting point is personal prayer and repentance. Like Daniel, begin from a posture of humility, and know your source of wisdom. Then seek an understanding of the biblical teaching on the issues of the day impacting the family. Often we turn our backs on emotionally-charged topics, or retreat out of fear or inadequacy. Getting equipped gives rise to courage. Resolve to think biblically.
2. Live biblically. Resolve never again to compartmentalize your life. Daniel's faith informed his diet, his politics, his friendships, what he was willing to speak up for, and whose precepts he was willing to die for. Living biblically means engaging the culture with compassion, clarity, confidence, respect and courage. Occasionally, it might mean dialing your senator or congressman, or even evicting a short-term resident of a large white house. But, it always means being a proponent of God-honouring change.
Pray for the family. Vote your values.
