Your Immediate Family IS Ministry

Apr 23, 2010 10:28 AM

Your Immediate Family IS Ministry – According to William Wilberforce

by makestraight

Today’s Breakpoint commentary is entitled “Parental Priorities - William Wilberforce, Amazing Dad“

Gracepoint Berkeley often frames immediate family as secondary to what their own definition of ministry is. Parents can often be seen dropping off their kids over and over again at babysitting while the parents go to staff meetings, church activities, etc.

Family-night is designated as one night a week [at least when I used to be there], and otherwise, you are expected to do Gracepoint ministry the other days.

While I understand that too many Americans may be living Christian life as defined by only their nuclear family, I believe Gracepoint Berkeley has swung too far the other way.

Jesus said in Luke 8:

19Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”

21He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”

Note that Jesus is not stating that now the immediate family no longer matters nor that it’s secondary. Rather, it’s in INCLUSIVE statement meaning that family is anyone who follows God, and that we’re essentially all children of God and thus siblings.

Wilberforce, as busy as he was, made his children a priority. Here’s an excerpt:

Wilberforce and his wife, Barbara, had four sons and two daughters. Despite the overwhelming weight of his religious and political duties, Wilberforce made his children a priority. And when they were away at school, he showered them with letters. Those letters tell the story of a father who was loving, encouraging, and always anxious for their spiritual welfare.

I believe in strong Christian families making for strong churches.

It was odd in Gracepoint, where I would rarely even see married couples enjoy one another – they were so task oriented that they were more like business associates, and not people that genuinely cherished each other in Christ. Children seemed to be raised more by the babysitters and children’s ministry teachers than the parents themselves.

Related Post: Healthy Marriages, Healthy Society