The word “family” gets thrown around a lot these days. Our society seems to be struggling with who or what a family is. There are times that the word “family” is associated with any group of people who spend a lot of time together. I have been asked to join a home school support group that considered itself an extension of the family. The media would have us believe that family can be defined as anyone choosing to live together. There is a school in Skokie, Ill that is teaching their 4th graders that the government is our “family”.
It sounds like there is a lot of confusion out there as to what a family really is. How do we determine what a family really is? Does it even matter? I think it does. It’s important to understand what being part of family means. Can we move from one family to another if we get tired or don’t like the people any longer?
If we go back in history to find out the original meaning of family and see where the whole idea started, we are lead back to the very beginning. The very first family in all of mankind was formed by God. God laid down the first guidelines or rules to follow when forming a family. God defined who could be part of family. Genesis 2 tells us that a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. In one simple sentence, at the very beginning of the world, we are told who makes up a family and how it is to begin.
It wasn’t long (the very next chapter) before a little bit more information is given that tells us about the man and woman’s roles in the family. We are told that the man will rule over the woman. We are also told, for the first time, about children being included.
By the end of the 3rd chapter of Genesis we are told that a man and a woman are to commit to each other, that the man will rule over the woman and that there will be children. “Family” defined by God. It’s a simple concept that has had a profound impact on every person that has ever lived.
God tells us about government and what its role is at various times in the Bible. Does God ever compare the government (any government) to the family? Does He ever suggest that the government has a responsibility to raise the children, support the family, decide what is right and wrong? Not to my knowledge. So why does the school in Skokie, Ill teach the children that the government is family? Why does the government in Germany decide it can forcibly take well cared for children away from their loving parents? God tells the Israelites what the government they so much crave will behave like in 1 Samuel 8:10-19. Take a few minutes to read it. Does this sound familiar?
There is another group of people that God refers to as “family”. As in Genesis 2, there are guidelines as to who can be part of this family. God doesn’t leave us guessing how to become a part of it. He doesn’t leave it to us to make the rules. He lays it out clearly and simply for all to understand.
Over and over, the New Testament makes reference to God being our Father, those that obey Him as sons and daughters, tells us to treat each other likes fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and compares the church to a family.
Just as He defined the guidelines on who could be part of a family in the beginning, He defines it for the spiritual family talked about in the New Testament. The second chapter of Acts tells us that God adds those who were baptized. It’s as simple as that. Obey God and He will add you to His church, His family. I would much rather be a part of God’s family than to have a government attempt to be family to me.
