Forms and Models of Family Life in the Scriptures
Raheel Rizvi
There are many models of family in the Scriptures. There are patriarchal families; those in which the father rules over an extended household. There are nuclear families; those in which only parents and immediate children live together. There are examples of couples living without children or other family members and singles who seem to have lived alone or in small groups. While such examples are descriptive of the variety of family structures found in the Scriptures they do not establish what is normative in terms of God’s desire for the family. Their existence does raise the questions, what constitutes a family?
From the perspective of word studies, in the Scriptures the concept of family draws its meaning from the image of house. The Biblical family was an extended one, consisting not only of those who were united by blood, but all who lived under the same roof. The ethos of family unity was strengthened by the Israelite code of loyalty to one's own family group and corporate responsibility.
The establishment of a covenant between God and the nation of Israel has become the foundational focus in developing a theology of the family. It is covenant love that provides the basis for family. For this reason, family means much more than consanguinity, where bold ties provide the only basis for belonging. Family is where we are loved unconditionally, and where we can count on that love even when we least deserve it. Therefore, in order to understand the family, we must understand a covenant.
A covenant included vows which clarified the expectations of its members for each other. In a covenant the terms exist in order to consummate and maintain the relationship. Furthermore, God serves as witness to all covenants. He is a partner and judge in all relationships.
When family members experience covenant love, grace, and empowering, they will be able to communicate confidently and express themselves freely without feat. Family members will want what is best for one another. They will make a concerted effort to listen, understand, accept differences, values, and confirm uniqueness.
Jesus created a new family, a third race, neither Gentile nor Jew but “in Christ.” Our Lord neither denied nor eliminated the biological family; He provided the means for the human family to become part of His divine family. The dysfunctional family can be healed only by joining the household of God. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Ephesians 2:19).
Through God’s Spirit, the church is the extended family for those who receive Him. It is only in the power of God’s Spirit, within the church, that the nuclear family can resist the social forces that attempt to remark the family. As the church approaches the next millennium, it must assume its role in redeeming and strengthening the family.
From the perspective of word studies, in the Scriptures the concept of family draws its meaning from the image of house. The Biblical family was an extended one, consisting not only of those who were united by blood, but all who lived under the same roof. The ethos of family unity was strengthened by the Israelite code of loyalty to one's own family group and corporate responsibility.
The establishment of a covenant between God and the nation of Israel has become the foundational focus in developing a theology of the family. It is covenant love that provides the basis for family. For this reason, family means much more than consanguinity, where bold ties provide the only basis for belonging. Family is where we are loved unconditionally, and where we can count on that love even when we least deserve it. Therefore, in order to understand the family, we must understand a covenant.
A covenant included vows which clarified the expectations of its members for each other. In a covenant the terms exist in order to consummate and maintain the relationship. Furthermore, God serves as witness to all covenants. He is a partner and judge in all relationships.
When family members experience covenant love, grace, and empowering, they will be able to communicate confidently and express themselves freely without feat. Family members will want what is best for one another. They will make a concerted effort to listen, understand, accept differences, values, and confirm uniqueness.
Jesus created a new family, a third race, neither Gentile nor Jew but “in Christ.” Our Lord neither denied nor eliminated the biological family; He provided the means for the human family to become part of His divine family. The dysfunctional family can be healed only by joining the household of God. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Ephesians 2:19).
Through God’s Spirit, the church is the extended family for those who receive Him. It is only in the power of God’s Spirit, within the church, that the nuclear family can resist the social forces that attempt to remark the family. As the church approaches the next millennium, it must assume its role in redeeming and strengthening the family.
Sheneka Land
Ministry With Families
Dr. Jackie Johns
A Failed Parent in Scripture
Successful parenting requires generous doses of wisdom and discernment. I presuppose that most parents strive to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the parenthood calling, but the very state of humanity now and again leaves us falling short in our desire to interact with our children in appropriate fashion. Repeating mistakes from our families of origin inevitably leads to repeated parental failures. In conjunction with generational dysfunction, fatigue and discouragement within the heart are also factors that can cause a parent to flounder. In the Old Testament story of Jacob’s life, we can easily observe these depressive forces at work in Jacob with regard to his parenting habits.
The account of Jacob’s life is found in the book of Genesis. Sadly, his life story is filled with domestic dysfunction early on and continues into his old age. Deception, pride, adultery, rape, arrogance, favoritism and jealousy are some of the despairing sins found in his family history. Lack of mutual respect and relationship common sense is found throughout his generational line.
Jacob is characterized in Scripture as passive, and because of his disregard and detachment, his children suffered spiritually and emotionally. One temptation leading to failure in parenting is to surrender to burnout and despair, which gives birth to indifference and passivity. All parents become weary in well-doing; however, exhaustion does not grant us reason or excuse to abort the important mission of nurturing and protecting our children.
As the story of Jacob wended on through history into his senior years, it seems that his fatigue and discouragement became more profound as he grieved the death of his beloved Rachel and his son Joseph. One can easily envision the face of a drained, elderly father and grandfather with a downturned mouth, lifeless eyes, and furrowed brows as testimony to his despair and heartbreak over the course of his dysfunctional family life.
Though Jacob’s story has a slightly, happy ending, much is to be contemplated within this chronicle of a failed parent. How can we, as readers, steer clear of a similar failure? How can we, as the body of Christ, enable parents to be successful, spiritual leaders to their children?
As the church, we have a responsibility to build one another up through the love, power and witness of the Lord Jesus. As we are connected together as multi-generational parents, we can find and give mutual support so that dysfunction, fatigue and discouragement are dissipated within the lives of parents so they will not fail their children. Herein, we prove the love and affection that is to define the family of God.
Ministry With Families
Dr. Jackie Johns
A Failed Parent in Scripture
Successful parenting requires generous doses of wisdom and discernment. I presuppose that most parents strive to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the parenthood calling, but the very state of humanity now and again leaves us falling short in our desire to interact with our children in appropriate fashion. Repeating mistakes from our families of origin inevitably leads to repeated parental failures. In conjunction with generational dysfunction, fatigue and discouragement within the heart are also factors that can cause a parent to flounder. In the Old Testament story of Jacob’s life, we can easily observe these depressive forces at work in Jacob with regard to his parenting habits.
The account of Jacob’s life is found in the book of Genesis. Sadly, his life story is filled with domestic dysfunction early on and continues into his old age. Deception, pride, adultery, rape, arrogance, favoritism and jealousy are some of the despairing sins found in his family history. Lack of mutual respect and relationship common sense is found throughout his generational line.
Jacob is characterized in Scripture as passive, and because of his disregard and detachment, his children suffered spiritually and emotionally. One temptation leading to failure in parenting is to surrender to burnout and despair, which gives birth to indifference and passivity. All parents become weary in well-doing; however, exhaustion does not grant us reason or excuse to abort the important mission of nurturing and protecting our children.
As the story of Jacob wended on through history into his senior years, it seems that his fatigue and discouragement became more profound as he grieved the death of his beloved Rachel and his son Joseph. One can easily envision the face of a drained, elderly father and grandfather with a downturned mouth, lifeless eyes, and furrowed brows as testimony to his despair and heartbreak over the course of his dysfunctional family life.
Though Jacob’s story has a slightly, happy ending, much is to be contemplated within this chronicle of a failed parent. How can we, as readers, steer clear of a similar failure? How can we, as the body of Christ, enable parents to be successful, spiritual leaders to their children?
As the church, we have a responsibility to build one another up through the love, power and witness of the Lord Jesus. As we are connected together as multi-generational parents, we can find and give mutual support so that dysfunction, fatigue and discouragement are dissipated within the lives of parents so they will not fail their children. Herein, we prove the love and affection that is to define the family of God.