One of the
most memorable missions that I have ever participated in was the Meru
mission
in my college years. There were long distances to walk but unforgettable
encounters with a warm and welcoming people.
Of
the many ‘culture shocks I experienced, one still stands out in my mind to this
day.
Whenever
we ventured into a homestead and the ‘man of the home’ agreed to meet with us,
he would require his entire extended family to stop whatever they were doing
and gather immediately to listen to what we had to say. I am not sure that it
was the right way but many people came to know the Good News this way.
In Genesis 18 we read how Abraham pleaded with God not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. It was a wicked city in the eyes of God in almost all respects. In the midst of this interesting conversation, God reveals why He chose Abraham.
Genesis 18:16-19 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”
The
bible tells us that God chose Abraham that he might direct his children and his
household to follow the commandments of God. This I believe, is also
the mandate of every married man. The
patriarchs in Meru were probably following this injunction without even knowing
it. By using their natural authority, they did good by the Lord. How about you friend?
Later in the story, Abraham’s nephew Lot received visitors (angels in human form). Unlike us in Meru they were not welcomed warmly. Instead the
men of the city stormed his house attempting to of all things, gang-rape
the visitors!
Lot,
in a desperate last ditch effort to keep his visitors safe offered his
daughters to the men. He pleaded with them, “….Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man…”
Aside
from the tragic nature of this counter-offer, here is the thing men; among a licentious,
xenophobic and god-hating people Lot had somehow managed to keep his daughters
pure.
He had lived by the great injunction to direct his household to follow the ways of the
Lord. For anyone with teenagers or young adults, you probably understand what a
tall order this is.
Lot had a few things going for him. One of them is that though he lived among
them, he never accepted their ways. Instead he allowed his conscience
to bother him day after day. The bible says of him;
For that righteous man,
living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the
lawless deeds he saw and heard. 2 Peter 2:8
This
state of mind and spirit eventually saved him from the fiery judgement that
wiped out the city. If
any man is to successfully direct his family in the ways of God he must of
necessity 'hate' the days’ culture. If you easily fit in then you have a big problem
friend.
God
has given us a prescription on how we can fulfill the Abrahamic mandate to
direct our families in the ways of the Lord. The bible exhorts us;
Train a child in the he
should go, and when he is old he will not turn away from it. Proverbs
22:6
The
key word here is TRAIN***. There is
too little space here to explore this further but here
are six questions to help you along.
If you answer ‘Yes!’ then keep at it. If you
answer ‘No’, then these can be useful starting points.
1.
Do you read and discuss the scriptures with
your family every day?
2.
Do you lead your family in attending church
each week?
3.
Do you guide your children regularly into participating
in some form of church or para-church ministry work?
4.
Do you pray for your wife and kids daily-that
God may keep them from temptation and cause them to grow in the fear of the
Lord?
5.
Do your children know 100% by observing you that
you are obstinately pro-God and anti-worldliness regardless of the latest fads?
6.
Do your children know that you are willing to
take personal risks for the sake of Christ?
*** Dr. Stanley Mukolwe does an
excellent class on this training children into godliness. If interested check
out raisingfutureparents.com
Picture courtesy of http://sayamen.org
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