In my previous blog one of my last paragraphs read as follows: “To make a long story short, I hear Scott and Voddie affirming that when they say the church the church is a family of families, they are referring to their ‘philosophy of church ministry.’ I think this is what they mean by the church being a ‘family of families.’ I honestly would like to know from them if I have properly understood them.” This was not mere rhetoric. I really do want to know if I have correctly understood what the church being a “family of families” means for the NCFIC. While I wait to make sure that I understand what they mean, I want to do what theologians would call an excursus. I want to address a related issue that is a little bit off the subject, but still important to it. That subject is the question contained in my heading for this blog. Are We Guilty of a Messianic View of the Christian Family? Let me answer this question by answering several related questions.
Who am I talking to? I am not talking just to the family-integrated folks. I am talking to all of us who are trying to build a family on biblical principles and making tons of sacrifices to do so. I was one of the pastors of a church for 24 years whose families were basically homeschoolers. I was proud of them. I was proud of the sacrifices they made to have a biblical family. I was proud of how hard the moms worked for their principles. I was proud of the leadership our fathers provided to their families. I was proud of how relatively well our kids behaved and did compared to most others I knew. I was proud of our families. I was proud of what we believed about the family and related biblical and social issues. Many hard and sad experiences since then have taught me that I was perhaps too proud. I was placing hope in the wrong thing. I fear I had to some degree a messianic view of the family.
What do I not mean? When I say all of this, let me make clear that I still believe in biblical principles of family living. I believe in the headship of the husband and father and the submission of the wife and mother. I still believe in and practice family worship. I still believe that God will honor diligent parenting to the salvation of many (though not necessarily all) the children of diligent parents. I think the passages in the Old Testament about this apply to salvation and to New Testament believers. For instance, I believe Psalm 112:1-2 is for Christian parents today when it asserts: “Praise the LORD! How blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who greatly delights in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed.” Furthermore, I would not go back and change the standards on which I attempted to raise my children and lead my family. My wife and I would just try to live up to those standards more consistently than we did. I have not adopted some super-new covenant view which relegates all the promises of the wisdom literature of the Old Testament to the pile of abolished ceremonial precepts.
Dr. Sam Waldron is the Academic Dean of CBTS and professor of Systematic Theology. He is also one of the pastors of Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Owensboro, KY. Dr. Waldron received a B.A. from Cornerstone University, an M.Div. from Trinity Ministerial Academy, a Th.M. from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. From 1977 to 2001 he was a pastor of the Reformed Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, MI. Dr. Waldron is the author of numerous books including A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, The End Times Made Simple, Baptist Roots in America, To Be Continued?, and MacArthur’s Millennial Manifesto: A Friendly Response.
