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by Paul Bayles, Pastor, Christ Community Church Canoga Park, Calif.
the Christian home
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Is th e r e a Church in Your House?
each other so much!” Your love must be unique!/ It is so unique that you see it as afn exception to God’s rule that Christians only marry Christians! Are you sure your love is so different that God has made a mistake in stating that there are no exceptions? Love as unique as that is romantic love. You can’t build solidly on romantic love. It is too elusive. Assuming that we who are married have observed these principles, our homes ought to be functioning as a Church. There should be worship in our homes. If wisely and understand- ingly conducted, family worship can be a highlight of home life. If morali- zations are aimed at individuals and Scriptures are slanted to rebuke one another, only misery will be experi enced. If parents are out to prove that they are spiritual and if children are put on the defensive, real worship is impossible. Our homes should provide Chris tian training. Our children should learn the meaning of prayer, worship and reverence in our home. What spiritual and psychological attitudes about Christianity and life are our homes developing in our children? What do our children know of mis sions and missionaries? Have Chris tian workers been guests in our homes? Do they see where our tithes and offer ings come from and where they go? Do they suppose the Lord’s money comes from loose change that happens in the pocket or from careful and joy ful planning? The Church in your house is not to supplant the church in your com munity. Neither is to take the place of the other. Both are needed. Perfect 'attendance at the best church avail able provides a maximum of 150 hours of training and worship annually. What can those few hours possibly accomplish if our children spend 5000 hours a year in homes and 972 hours a year in schools that are primarily materialistic in life and philosophy? What total influence can the Church have against those odds? There is a desperate need today for Christian homes that are allies of the spiritual church. Does your home life complement or contradict the efforts of the church? Is there a church in your house?
C o n g r e g a t io n s of the early church frequently met in the homes of believers. The homes of Aquila and Philemon were offered by their owners for this purpose. “ The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house” I Corinthians 16:19; “ And to our be loved Apphia, and Archippus our fel- lowsoldier, and to the church in thy house:” Philemon 2. These were pro fessional men who had homes large enough to accommodate a group. Christianity did not begin among the wealthy classes and believers could not afford to erect their own structures for worship. So they often met in pri vate dwellings. This has frequently been the case throughout Church his tory, especially as small groups broke away from more formal church sys tems. In another sense it is true that the Christian home performs a function that is similar to that of the Church. Where this is true families have at least two or three believers, with Jesus Christ in the midst. The Christian home then becomes a community of believers, which is, after all, the sim plest definition of a local church. What kind of a church is in your house? Is it a growing and thriving Church? Does it have a vigorous pro gram of Christian education? To establish a home that performs similarly to a Church, certain basic principles must be followed. These principles are best considered before marriage. It all begins with your own Christian experience of new birth. Christian homes don’t begin with the selection of a Christian partner. They begin with you! Too often our empha sis is upon the problem and risk of selecting a partner, rather than with the task of developing our own Chris tian personalities and capacities to love and give. If we mature as Chris tian young people, God will help us with the selection of a partner. You must see to it that you as a Christian should grow, so that you will be the partner you should be. Then you must choose a Christian partner—and a devoted believer in Christ. Don’t say, “ But our love is unique. It doesn’t matter that one of us isn’t a Christian. You see, we love
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