The Church and The Home
Donald Norbie
In some areas a conflict is arising between the local church and the home. Some are excited about home schooling their children and see the vital importance of the home. And this is good. Many today are schooling their children at home with great success. But some have gone on to feel that the home also displaces the church, the local assembly. As the head of the home the father is commanded to teach his children. “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deut. 6:7 NKJ). Thus there is no need for the church; the home is adequate for all spiritual needs. We must escape the world and its corrupting influences. The home then becomes a citadel, a sanctuary, a refuge, into which we may escape.
There is an element of truth here. Home schooling can be a great blessing and can draw the family together. The father should take leadership and teach his family the Word. But there are dangers, If You leave the local church. There is the possibility of the father taking on an extreme, authoritarian role. He can rule like a dictator in the confines of his own home and that can be attractive to the male ego. The family is also cut off from the nourishing life of the assembly, the love and encouragement we all need. The teaching of one man also can become unbalanced and extreme, even heretical. There is no accountability to other believers There are no other men who will check and correct him if needed.
There is a Scriptural balance. Home schooling can be good, but not all feel they can do this. Some may choose to send their children to a Christian school or a good public school, and we must be careful about being judgmental in this area. Surely the father should be a spiritual leader in his own home. And the home needs to be saturated with the Word of God, not the TV.
But does this eliminate the vital importance of the local assembly? The Scripture would teach the opposite. The apostles preached the gospel and established churches wherever they went. Elders were appointed (Acts 14:23) and commanded to shepherd the flock of God. "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:20). The elders take ultimate responsibility for the flock, the local church. And fathers, as part of the flock, are to submit to them (Heb. 13:17). Plurality in oversight of the assembly was the rule.
The church provides for the exercise of various gifts, all contributing to the health and growth of the fellowship (Rom. 12:3-8). A family does not have the rich resource of gift that a church has. It is a place where all may develop their gifts and grow, thus blessing themselves and others. We grow by participation and exercise. The church provides the fellowship and love that all of us need. A wife needs the friendship and understanding of other women. She may need the advice of older, godly women. This her husband cannot provide. He needs other men with whom he can talk and discuss problems. This his wife cannot supply. The children need to interact with other children and form friendships which may last for a lifetime. The young can contribute energy to the assembly; the old can supply wisdom. We need one another. And there are times when we may need, not only instruction, but also discipline by the body to correct our thinking and behavior. There is a richness to corporate worship which the home is unable to supply, as various brothers pour out their hearts in praise and adoration.
We are told that the local assembly is a “temple of God” and that we are builders in it (1 Cor. 3:11-17). It is to be a holy place and we are warned against defiling or destroying it. “If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are” (1 Cor. 3:17). Paul is emphasizing the importance of the local church and our own responsibility in connection with it. Be a builder, not a destroyer, of God's work. Since it is God's temple, instructions are given as to how it should function (1 Tim. 3:15) and it is described as "the pillar and ,ground of the truth." Paul exalts the importance of the local church.
Since the local church is so important, we are exhorted, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the Day approaching” (Heb. 10:25). Be committed to your local assembly and you will be doing the will of God. Do not belittle the importance of the assembly.
From Milk & Honey, Vol. XIX, September 2004 No. 9