Who’s Responsible for Our Families?

It appears that the Sunday School blog has gone cold, so I apologize for heating it up again in advance. Some of our discussions on Sunday, however, prompted some critical thought on my part and I wanted to share what I’ve been thinking about to get some of your thoughts.

I was listening to a sermon series today by Voddie Baucham entitled “Family Driven Faith” (If you’ve never heard him preach before, I encourage you to visit his website and download or order one of his CDs or DVDs). He challenged some of my perceptions about what the Christian faith should look like in both the family and the church.

Specifically, as a man, this series probably hit me harder than even our discussions regarding how we are to love our wives as Christ loved the Church. As if we weren’t already bloodied by that little nugget of truth, Voddie dropped an anvil on my head by saying that we (as the fathers and husbands) are “called by God to be the Priest, Prophet, Provider and Protector” for our wives and for our children. I don’t know about you, but I struggle just to be the Provider for my family and completely fail at the other three.

We are called to be the primary spiritual influence in our wives’ and children’s lives and to equip them with spiritual knowledge, understanding, and wisdom thru nurture in the Word of God. We are to disciple our children in the faith and train them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We are to be involved in leading home worship as the primary means of catechizing our children into the Christian faith. We are to provide for our families financial needs and to protect them from harm, which includes training them to be obedient to their parents, protecting them from the lies of our culture as well as from those who would prey on their youth and naivety.

I will be the first to admit, I am not a very good spiritual leader to my wife. I have been of the belief that “she’s an adult, she can fend for herself”. I was wrong, she needs me to be the spiritual leader, not just for the kids, but for her as well. It is my responsibility, not the Church’s, to ensure that my family is taught righteousness and sound doctrine. My kids are a little young, but I almost shy away from talking to them about Christ because I honestly don’t want the hassle of explaining things that can’t be summed up in a few words. I have done my wife and my children a huge disservice and will, if not corrected, set up my family for disaster.

We, as men, have a much greater responsibility than we even thought. Not only do we have a high standard to achieve, but our wives have a high standard to hold us to. We are to be the Pastors of our family. I’ve been a lousy Pastor… how ’bout you?

I want to encourage you all to step up to the plate and be the Priest, Prophet, Provider and Protector for your family and to help keep me accountable to do the same.