Christ’s Culture In Our Home

By way of reminder, The Culture of Christ is: The training, improvement and refinement of mind (2 Corinthians 10:5), morals or taste by the Holy Spirit of God (John 14:26, 16:13) through the application of The Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17) in each individual life, which is being molded into the likeness of Christ (Philippians 1:6) for the building up of the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-16). In shorthand, it is processing all we have and are through the Truth of the Word of God as taught by the Holy Spirit.

The failure to filter all things through the very Word of God is the root of the problems in our homes. The very fabric of society has been and is being unraveled because The Church does not understand, teach or model the Culture of Christ, in particular, as it reflects relationships in the home. Lets take a look at what relationships in a Christian home would reflect.  

Individually

The foundation of any relationship is the personal character of each person involved.  If you, or members of your household, have not received Christ as your personal savior, you can’t be expected to have the character of Christ.  However, if Christ is your Savior and Lord your character will reflect that relationship.

Your character will exhibit that of Christ in the following ways:

You will be subject to other believers in the Body of Christ (Ephesians 5:21)
You will seek counsel from older (more mature) people (1 Peter 5:5, Titus 2:4-5)
Your actions and attitudes will reflect those of Christ  (1 John 2:4-6)
You will have a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience  (Colossians 3:12)
You will bear the burdens of others without putting yourself first. (Romans 15:1-3)
You will regard others as more important than yourself.  (Philippians 2:3-4) and
You will be known as a person of Joy!  (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

If these character qualities were predominate in the life of each individual Christian, the world would sit up and take notice.  If these character qualities were lived out within our homes we would fulfill the roles and responsibilities in the home God has given to us and our communities would not only notice, they would be changed!

Marriage

In the American Culture, marriage is a civil union between a man and a woman. Vows are exchanged with the verbalized intent to be kept.  Everyone crosses their collective fingers and hopes this is one of the 50% of marriages that “make it.”  The civil government has jurisdiction over such marriages and has the authority to dissolve the marriage as well as institute it. The civil government use to require a reason to dissolve marriages.  Now it just takes it in stride without cause.  In the Culture of Christ, marriage is approached from a completely different perspective.   In His culture, marriage is known as “Holy Matrimony.”  The word “Holy” places the union in a completely different category.  Holy matrimony forever joins the man and woman together.  Jesus said, “They are no more two, but one flesh.  What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” (Matthew 19:6) It is a spiritual act of making a life-long covenant before God, it is the union of a man and a woman into one flesh, something only God can do and it dedicates the husband and wife to fulfill the roles and responsibilities in the marriage as God has defined them.

Husbands

A major point of contention, and the crux of a home living within the culture of Christ, is the fact that God has ordained and equipped each husband to be the head of the house (Ephesians 5:23).  To some that speaks of dominance of the wife, of inequity before God and seems to open the door for a husband to abuse his wife without restraint.  Let us first put aside the fears generated by defining the husband as the head of the house and acknowledge that such a position is ordained and commanded by God.  That acknowledgment requires a response.  If the culture of Christ is to be lived out within our homes it must begin here.  God has established the framework in which the husband lives out this headship.

A husband living in the culture of Christ understands that he serves under God and is only a conduit through which God ministers to his wife and children (1 Corinthians 11:3).  God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of man and man is the head of woman. In and of himself, the husband realizes, he has no authority.

In the culture of Christ the husband’s love and leadership of his wife is for her spiritual benefit (Ephesians 5:25-27).  In Christ a husband focuses on presenting his wife holy and blameless before God; not on pleasing her, meeting her temporal desires or justifying his decisions.

In that regard, a husband living within the culture of Christ will nourish and cherish his wife as he does his own body (Ephesians 5:28-30).  Is your every thought and action toward your wife focused on nourishing her?  Does your wife know she is cherished?  When she sees you loving her, does she see the love of Christ.

Wives

The second point of contention in the American culture is that the culture of Christ commands a wife to submit to her husband.   A wife is not only to submit to her husband, she is to submit to him “as unto the Lord” in the same way the church is subject to Christ! (Ephesians 5:22-24) This Scripture is very descriptive and doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room.  If a wife thinks she has wiggle room because her husband is not a believer, Peter removed that option, “In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior.” 1 Peter 3:1-3.

God’s commands in this regard should be a sober warning to any woman contemplating marriage.  Some of the questions she needs to ask herself, before God.

Is God leading me into Holy matrimony with this man?
Can I completely give myself to God in such a way that I will trust Him wherever He leads me through my husband?
Am I able to submit myself to this fallible fallen man as unto the Lord?

If she can’t, without reservation before God, answer each of these in the affirmative, she should at the very least put off any decision of marriage, right up to and including the moment before making the vow before God.

If you have made that vow before God, not understanding the impact that vow has on your relationship before God and your commitment to your husband, you are probably either scared out of your wits or in rebellion against God and your husband or both.  That doesn’t change the command of God.  Are you submissive to your husband?

God also commands that older women teach younger women to “encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored.” Titus 2:4-5 This, too, is a command from God.  It is not a suggestion.  He doesn’t say it would be a nice thing to do it you could somehow work it into your busy schedule.  He says it is to be done!  And so it must be if our homes are going to reflect the culture of Christ and transform our communities. Are you learning from an older woman? Are you an older woman teaching a younger woman?

Children

Wives are not the only ones commanded to submit, so too are children.  “Children, be obedient (subordinate) to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.” Colossians 3:20 Once again, this is not a suggestion.  It is a command.  Parents must make this clear to their children and must require of them adherence to this command.

In the culture of Christ children are intentionally trained in the ways of the Lord (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).  There is no room, before God, for the wickedness of peers to infiltrate the lifestyle of your children.

This training is to be consistently taught, consistently modeled and consistently measured.  By doing so you will not exasperate your children or provoke them to anger (Ephesians 6:4, Colossians 3:21).

This training is to come from the fathers and grandfathers.  The fathers are to teach the children.  The grandfathers are to model and to assure that God’s principles are being taught to the grandchildren by their fathers (Deuteronomy 4:9). 

Personal Introspection

Chances are good that you are at least one of the following: Husband, wife or child.  Knowing God’s commands regarding your place in a home is completely different from living those commands.  Here is the test: Are you allowing the Holy Spirit of God to teach you through the application of God’s Word how you are to relate to those in your household?  Do you see Him molding you into the likeness of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ? If this describes your position in Christ, His culture will be seen in you by others.

If not, perhaps you are not living in His culture and need to refocus.

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