With the prophet Jeremiah we cry out for America, “O land, land,
land, hear the word of the LORD!” (Jer. 22:29, NASB).
ASSUMPTIONS OF AFAMILYREFORMATION
The local church plays a vital role in reforming the family, but before
I present several mandates concerning the family for the church in the
new millennium, I need to explain three critical assumptions that
must be understood and embraced before we take action.
First, if we want to reform the family we need standards.If there is no
measuring mechanism, no “spiritual yardstick,” how will we evaluate
progress?
The problem we face today was described perfectly many cen-
turies ago by Jeremiah: “An appalling and horrible thing has hap-
pened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule
on their own authority; and My people love it so! But what will you
do at the end of it?” (Jer. 5:30-31, NASB). We live in a day of hyper-
individualism, where rules are made to be broken—if they are made
at all. The Bible is a book of grace but not of a lawless grace that says,
“I’ll do it my way, thank you.” Augustine said, “When regard for the
truth has broken down, all things become doubtful.” We live in such
a time.
When Scripture is not taught faithfully but is replaced by
ungodly opinions and twisted interpretations, the end will be devas-
tating. A picture of this appears in Isaiah 59, where truth is described
as having “stumbled in the street” (v. 14, NASB). As a result moral
decay overwhelmed God’s people. Without the strength and stability
of truth, those who did try to do right actually became evil’s prey (v.
15). If we do not humble ourselves and live and breathe God’s truth
and righteousness, evil stands at the door, eager to devour us and our
descendants.
This issue of convictions is so important because the enemy of
our soul doesn’t want parents to take a stand on anything. For exam-
ple, consider the negative cultural values presented to our children
through movies, advertising, fashion, television shows, books, the
Internet, and dating customs. Parents who have convictions are rare.
16 BUILDINGSTRONGFAMILIES