The Great Divorce
Family First!
Is family more important than Church? Fact is God created, Adam and Eve, the first family system before He created the Church. One of the primary purposes of the Church is to restore the family, not vice versa. Fact is Adam and Eve’s sin resulted, not in a church spilt, but in a family crisis. The relationship Adam had with Eve before they failed in their home, the Garden of Eden, was untouched by the consequences of sin and embedded in their relationship with God. Their sin did not destroy the Church, but divorced God from the family system. The conception of the Church was to combat this “Great Divorce.” The Church exists not to restore itself, but to restore the family system to the state it was pre-Fall, God-Centered.
Church Second!
The driving force of society is not the local church, but the family. Society is shaped and defined faster by what happens in individual homes than local churches. A shift must be made in how the Church approaches ministry, from “Healthy Churches Equal Healthy Families, to “Healthy Families Equal Healthy Churches.” Instead of looking to see revival in local churches, a greater impact would be made if revival was sought after in the local homes. The Church is an institution of family restoration. The fallen state of our society can only experience order to the degree families (as well as individuals) are restored to God’s original creative design set in motion in Genesis 1-2.
The Church exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Whole family, not only individual discipleship, is core to the restoration of our society. The Church must shift to a family systems approach of discipleship where each person in the family is part of the process. Instead of placing each member of a family into separate classes, the Church must keep them together. Family continuity that was lost in Adam’s fall into sin must be restored through collective times of meaningful worship, practical Biblical teaching and training, community fellowship and service. The Church must lead whole families, not just individuals to become fully devoted followers of Christ. When God is part of the family, society will function as God intended.
Case & Point!
First Assembly of God Church in Phoenix, Arizona led by Tommy Barnet started to restore marriages and families in a city that had a 79% divorce rate. The church was full of dysfunctional families, unsatisfied marriages and divorce victims. Beginning with a Sunday school class that focused on marriage with only four couples almost twenty years later they have virtually eliminated divorce in their church. The church has grown to over 26,000, the youth of the city have become so attracted to the healthy families in the church they had to build them a 1,000 seat auditorium, the church has been instrumental in establishing covenant marriage law in three states and pioneered, N.A.M.E., a lay counseling center that is used in churches all over the world. The hope of the world is not as much the local church, as Bill Hybels’ believes, but the restoration of God-centered families!
Family First!
Is family more important than Church? Fact is God created, Adam and Eve, the first family system before He created the Church. One of the primary purposes of the Church is to restore the family, not vice versa. Fact is Adam and Eve’s sin resulted, not in a church spilt, but in a family crisis. The relationship Adam had with Eve before they failed in their home, the Garden of Eden, was untouched by the consequences of sin and embedded in their relationship with God. Their sin did not destroy the Church, but divorced God from the family system. The conception of the Church was to combat this “Great Divorce.” The Church exists not to restore itself, but to restore the family system to the state it was pre-Fall, God-Centered.
Church Second!
The driving force of society is not the local church, but the family. Society is shaped and defined faster by what happens in individual homes than local churches. A shift must be made in how the Church approaches ministry, from “Healthy Churches Equal Healthy Families, to “Healthy Families Equal Healthy Churches.” Instead of looking to see revival in local churches, a greater impact would be made if revival was sought after in the local homes. The Church is an institution of family restoration. The fallen state of our society can only experience order to the degree families (as well as individuals) are restored to God’s original creative design set in motion in Genesis 1-2.
The Church exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Whole family, not only individual discipleship, is core to the restoration of our society. The Church must shift to a family systems approach of discipleship where each person in the family is part of the process. Instead of placing each member of a family into separate classes, the Church must keep them together. Family continuity that was lost in Adam’s fall into sin must be restored through collective times of meaningful worship, practical Biblical teaching and training, community fellowship and service. The Church must lead whole families, not just individuals to become fully devoted followers of Christ. When God is part of the family, society will function as God intended.
Case & Point!
First Assembly of God Church in Phoenix, Arizona led by Tommy Barnet started to restore marriages and families in a city that had a 79% divorce rate. The church was full of dysfunctional families, unsatisfied marriages and divorce victims. Beginning with a Sunday school class that focused on marriage with only four couples almost twenty years later they have virtually eliminated divorce in their church. The church has grown to over 26,000, the youth of the city have become so attracted to the healthy families in the church they had to build them a 1,000 seat auditorium, the church has been instrumental in establishing covenant marriage law in three states and pioneered, N.A.M.E., a lay counseling center that is used in churches all over the world. The hope of the world is not as much the local church, as Bill Hybels’ believes, but the restoration of God-centered families!
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