Gò0dNews for Family
Before There Was Evangelism…
…t
by David Beckmann
here was the family. When God made
hates the family so much. That is why the devil and his
provision for His will to be done on
servants have always done what they could to destroy the
earth, He created a man and a woman,
“traditional” or “natural” family, which God established
with the idea that they would start a family. When He
at the creation. And boy, have they been busy over the
decided it was time to start that project over, He saved a
last century or so! Our enemies know how important the
family from the Flood—Noah’s family. When it was time
family is. Do we?
to begin and establish “His own” people who were to do
I write to believing, evangelical married couples. As
His will in the Promised Land, He started with the family
we seek to fulfill the Great Commission and to live out
of Abraham. When God gave the law for His people at
the Christian life—to be salt and light in this world—
Mt. Sinai, right in the middle of it is the family: “Honor
how do we order our personal priorities? How are we to follow Paul’s instruction to be wise and understanding what the will of the Lord is for us (Ephesians 5:15-17)? Well, after he says to do that, he tells us to live in the Spirit, be thankful, have a submissive attitude toward one another, and then he orders our family life (Ephesians 5:18f).
your father and your mother…” Ultimately, when God
Evangelism is important, but God created families
sent His Son to save us from our sin and to establish His
to do His will on earth before they fell and needed
kingdom, He had him raised in a family.
evangelism. How can we invite people to God’s love in
I say all that to get to this: when the apostle Paul writes about living out the Christian life, we should
Christ if we cannot love our relatives (1 John 4:20)? Furthermore, if we are to disciple the nations,
expect him to put a lot of emphasis on how we live in
shouldn’t that discipling begin with our own children?
our families—or I should say households, because he
Has God not given them to us for that purpose?
includes the servants—which he did. Why? Because
Shouldn’t we want to have children (or adopt them) so
the family has always been the primary building block
we can nurture them to know the Lord and thus build the
for His kingdom and the doing of His will on earth—
family of God, the Church?
“thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
If we want to win the world for Christ, whatever we do, let’s still focus on the family.
a godly family are so important for us as Christians. It is also why the devil, and the world under his influence,
32 // August 2022
About The Author
That is why marriage and the raising of children in The Rev. David Beckmann is an Anglican priest and Moderator of the C.S. Lewis Society of Chattanooga. Recently, he was director of the C. S. Lewis Study Centre at The Kilns, Oxford, UK. He blogs at revbeckmann.com.
