The Christian Family — An Exposition

Iain D. Campbell, Free Church minister in the district of Back, on the Isle of Lewis, offers keen insights into the nature of the Christian family in “On Being a Family,” published at Reformation21.

“As a Christian pastor, I observe frequently that the concept of the family has fallen on hard times,” he reports. Gladly, instead of offering lament alone, he goes on to offer a constructive biblical vision of the family.

Here is his conclusion:

God’s covenant of grace, administered in different ways across the ages, places a high value on families. It was a family that was saved through God’s covenant with Noah. It was into families that God’s covenant was written in the time of Abraham. It is to us and to our children that the promise of grace is given (Acts 2:39). Christ died to redeem family life, and to set it free from the tyranny of sin and the destructive influences of the world. If we are Christians, it is our privilege to have a church in our house, as well as a home in our church. May God help our foundations to remain strong, our walls to stand firm, our windows to let in the light of his truth, and our doors to communicate with others the blessings of his grace!

His use of the metaphors of foundations, walls, windows, and doors is helpful, as is his connection of the natural family to the family of faith.