Although often overlooked, a great evangelistic tool of the church today is inherent in our strong families. If you want to measure how valuable good families are to a lost world, consider how many darts the devil has thrown at the institution of the Christian home over the last few years. In some segments of our society, 75% of children are from unmarried parents. Divorce is so common that many young people are dissuaded from ever getting married because they learned at a young age to equate marriage with anger and pain. Gender ambiguity / transgenderism makes marriage, for some, seem unlikely. Satan clearly hates the godly family model and is relentless in his fight to destroy it.
Consider that fully organized, committed Christian families today are increasingly rare. Have you ever thought about how a man and his wife cultivating a Christian family – a mom, a dad, and the kids, dedicated to Jesus Christ, is one effective way we communicate the value of the New Testament to the world?
This thought about our influence, separate and apart from the reading of the Word or gospel preaching, did not originate with me. It came from the Holy Spirit through the pen of Peter in I Peter 3:1-4.
“Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God a great price.”
Peter addresses a marriage in which the wife is a Christian, but her husband is not. Perhaps when they married, they were both unbelievers; then she learned the Gospel and obeyed it, but he did not. Peter suggests that although her husband is completely uninterested in the Gospel, he may still be won by observing the Christian lifestyle of his wife. That is, in his spiritually uneducated / elementary state, he can see what serving Christ has done for her and for their marriage. He becomes convinced that her wifely attributes—which he adores and observes as being uncommon in society—are connected to her Christianity. By being a faithful, devoted wife to him, she is teaching every day that Jesus has a positive and permeating effect on people. Peter shows that this unbelieving husband is being blessed by God through his believing wife and that the blessing of her adherence to Scripture in practical ways may lead him to the Lord.
The point is that there are some facets of Christian living that the world finds appealing. That is especially true today when people are hurting all around us because of a society that has largely left the principles of the Word. Strong families then, in our congregations, can influence their associates in the world of Christianity. They can be evangelistic simply by living out the Biblical model for the family.
When can a man see farthest: In the daytime or night? At night, of course, because only at night can he see the distant stars. As our world grows darker and farther away from God, godly families continue to be brighter and more impressive.
To be continued . . .
-Selected
The Spiritual Sword
By Glenn Colley
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