Distinct Characteristics of Hope Bible Church (pt. 14)
Family Discipleship
Another distinctive of HBC and the movement of churches of which we belong, is our firm commitment to family discipleship. We recognize that strong churches support godly families. We do not attempt to redefine the family or tear it down. Likewise, strong Christian families invariably bring a blessing to each local church, providing it with faithful workers and members through the generations. Both the family and the church are ordained by God, and in this dispensation, God has designed both institutions to work together in mutual support.
Most churches recognize that it is in their best interest to promote the Christian family. However, we call it a distinctive of our church because we purposefully build up the family to be all that God intended. While not undervaluing singles (who also have a calling from God and can often minister to the church even more than married persons can), we recognized that the norm will be for adults to marry. Given this reality, and the partnership of the home and the local church, we desire to invest into godly families as Scripture urges (Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; Titus 2:1-8).
Family discipleship starts with our commitment to the married men of the church. We recognize that God began the family with the man, and that the Lord designed the man to lead his home, both by providing love to his wife and by providing training to his children (Genesis 2:7, 18-25; 3:1-16; Ephesians 5:22-25). Male leadership, though challenged by society, is clearly taught in Scripture. Those who deny male leadership resort to strange ways of interpreting Scripture unknown in previous generations, and they twist Scripture from its context. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, God clearly has men in leadership in the home. This is seen from Genesis 2 through the genealogies. It is also seen in the lives of the patriarchs, the Law of Moses, the nation of Israel, and the early church. Adam was not only created first, but God showed the supportive role of the woman by deriving her existence from the man. She was made after him, from him, and for him. Even in the punishment of the man and woman in Genesis 3, their distinctive roles are assumed. We teach and train our men members to lead their homes in love and with a servant’s heart towards their wife. Fathers too are to take the lead in the parenting of their children, learning from and relying on the help of a believing wife. A husband’s leadership does not imply a dictatorial leadership, but one of sacrificial and humble love.
Family discipleship also involves the church’s providing parenting classes to parents so they can know how the Lord would have them train their children effectively and lead them to faith in Jesus Christ. These parenting classes start with parents of infants and range up to the years right before children leave the home. Our men’s ministry also often teaches on topics related to the home and how a man can fulfill his God-given calling. We teach men to use discernment and not follow the patterns and expectations of the unbelieving world concerning the family.
Our women’s ministry likewise teaches all of our women, but frequently addresses issues about how a believing woman can learn to submit in such a way that builds up her husband and provides a godly example for the children. We teach that submission is not servitude or second-class citizenship, but rather, is a strong and powerful example akin to the church’s submission to Jesus, the head of the church (Ephesians 5:22f; 1 Peter 3:1-7). Ultimately, both the roles of the man of the home and the woman of the home are directed toward glorifying their Creator, who made male and female originally to be equally made in His image but also distinct in their family roles.
When men and women understand their respective roles in the family, and when they follow the teachings of Christ in the home, families tend to stay together through the trials of life thus providing stability for children. When the mother and father work together in the home, communicating carefully with each other, the result is unity and peace. Scripture’s design for the home has been remarkably effective through the centuries, proving to be the wisest approach for families to take in the modern era.