Unfortunately, in some cases, Scriptures have been hijacked for the purpose of strengthening a particular religious group at the expense of the family. This practice dates back to the religious leaders of Jesus' day when elderly parents were deprived their due support because their children claimed that everything was devoted to God. (Mark 7:11)

Cult leaders in modern times have misused Scriptures by pointing to statements of Jesus such as Luke 14:26: "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."

There's also a statement which sounds like Jesus actually promotes and rewards the break-up of families: "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." (Matthew 19:29)

Once, when Jesus was teaching the people, His own family members, mother and brothers, came to see Him. Listening to how Jesus responded, some people get the idea that He couldn't care less about them; He seems to redefine the family as now being made up of His disciples, along with anyone who "does the will of my Father in heaven." (Matthew 12:46-50) On another occasion, while looking into the future, Jesus proclaimed, "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." (Luke 12:51-53)

Drawing from these verses, many religious leaders have instructed their followers to separate themselves from their "ungodly" family members and join together with their new-found spiritual family. In so doing, they nullify the Messianic promise given in the last verse of the Old Testament, "He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers." (Malachi 4:6) Just the opposite of this transpires - children are separated from their parents and vice a versa for the sake of furthering the goals of the religious organization.

In the Gospels, after Jesus delivered the man possessed by a "legion" of demons, He sent him back home to give the good news to his family: "'Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.' So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed." (Mark 5:18-20)

Also in the Gospels, there are several examples of parents bringing their needy children to Jesus. There was Jairus, whose daughter was terminally ill, a woman from Syria who came begging Jesus to heal her daughter, a father whose son was demonized; and we have the group of parents who brought their little children to be blessed by Jesus. All of these are examples of believers caring for their family members by bringing them to Jesus of by praying for Him to intervene.

Later in the New Testament is the wonderful promise given to the correctional officer in charge of Paul and Silas - "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household." (Acts 16:31)

In the household instructions, the "haustafel," the Lord is very much involved both with children obeying their parents as well as the way parents treat their children. (Acts 6:1-9) And Paul gives a firm word in the Pastor's manual, "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." (I Timothy 5:8) Perhaps this instruction is related to financial provision, but if Scripture urges faithfulness in regard to the material things, how much more the spiritual.

And listen to the counsel Peter gives to Christian women whose husbands are not yet believers, "Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives." (I Peter 3:1,2)

In the Old Testament we have examples of outstanding men of God who cared for their families.

There was Job, of whom it was written, "Early in the morning [Job] would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of [his children], thinking, 'Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.' This was Job's regular custom." (Job 1:5)

Abraham obviously cared deeply for his nephew, Lot, and interceded before God that his life, and the lives of his family members would be spared. (Genesis 18)

This is one of the bigger-than-life characters of the Bible - certainly the name Noah would come up on almost anyone's top ten list of famous Bible people. We also think of him as being on God's most favored list; because he found favor with God (Genesis 6:8), and he received advance warning about the Great Flood along with detailed instructions on how to survive it. He is called "a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God" (v. 9) and "did everything just as God commanded him."(v.22) The writer of Hebrews lifts up Noah as one of his great examples of faith when he wrote, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet . . . became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." (Hebrews 11:7)

But what I think is especially praiseworthy about Noah is found in the omitted part of the verse I just read, the part about saving his household - he "built an ark to save his family." And don't forget, we're not talking here about Noah and Mrs. Noah buckling their three darling baby boys in car seats and taking them to church in their "camel-van"! These were grown sons who, by the time of their boarding the boat, were married. Noah was able to convince his three sons and his three daughters-in-law to stand against the tide of their culture, to separate themselves from that culture for the saving of their souls. By the way, not only were they grown adult children, they were also the preacher's kids (PKs), and there are a lot of people who think they're the hardest to save. Why is that? Perhaps because "PKs" are subjected to unrealistic expectations, have a front row seat in the weekly show of hypocrisy, or too often get to see and feel the abuse endured by their fathers.

Poor Noah, he didn't have the benefit of church growth principles. He preached for 120 years, and had no converts other than his wife, his sons, and their wives. But look what God did, he used Noah's family to re-populate the earth. Noah saved his own family, and God used that to accomplish His greater purpose.

While in college I traveled a good bit in music groups and often would have a snack at the Pastor's house after a service. On one such occasion, I clearly remember the story told by the Pastor about his own son who had gone astray - he was far from home, and far from God. However, what shocked me the most was the father's words at the conclusion of his story. He said, "My own son is lost, but just look at how many people have come to the Lord." The obvious interpretation in my mind was, "It's OK that my own son may go to hell, but look at all these other people I've saved!"

During the past few years the American society has become very aware of the need to be "politically correct." My concern is that we are too anxious about being "religiously correct." The result is that we've become so tolerant of other religions that we don't want to do anything to ruffle their feathers. However, if Christians live the Christian life according to the Book, the Church will be presenting a challenging message, one which will bring conviction.

Clearly, God was not nonchalant with the evil society of Noah's day, nor will he be with ours. It's become increasingly apparent that the days in which we live is all to similar to the days of Noah:

Just as it was in the days of Noah,

Ours is a society that promotes pleasure at the expense of purity.
Ours is a society that raises rights over righteousness.
Ours is a society that heralds hedonism over holiness.
Ours is a society that fosters fun over faithfulness.
Ours is a society that praises partying over piety.
Ours is a society that elicits ecstasy but not endurance.
Ours is a society that serves up super-sized portions but side-steps self-sacrifice.

Some might suggest that "heart idolatry" in America has reached an all-time high, and perhaps we will come under this same judgment, and will not be able to save our own sons and daughters. I don't think we have gone quite that far, although we must take this warning very seriously, giving our own hearts a frequent "idolatry check". On the other hand, before his prophetic session was done, Ezekiel was assured that there would be some sons and daughters who would be saved, and seeing this, the prophet will be comforted. (V.22)

Our intention today is to take seriously the spiritual responsibility we have for our families, both our immediate, and extended families. What then is to be our response?

First, tears, like those shed by Jeremiah (9:1), Paul (Romans 9:2) and Jesus (Luke 19:41) - have we stopped weeping on behalf of our children, parents and other family members who do not know the Lord?

Second, prayer. There were only a few of us who gathered in the living room of my sister-in-law to memorialize my father-in-law, Ben Hallgren. When the time came for people to share a commendation or a memory, my wife’s tribute to her father was to recall the time when she was a young child looking for her father. The door to his bedroom was open a crack, and when she peeked in, she saw her father kneeling by a chair, praying for his family.

Third, our response is to live out the Gospel every day in the power of the Holy Spirit. Recently I came across an old book by Jonathan Edwards in which he, at great length, discusses the true signs of one having favor with God. In the next to last chapter, Edwards starts out by saying, "I shall consider Christian practice and holy life, as a manifestation and sign of the sincerity of a professing Christian, to the eye of his neighbors and brethren." He then goes on to say,

"Christ nowhere says, Ye shall know the tree by its leaves or flowers, or ye shall know men by their talk, or ye shall know them by the good story they tell of their experiences, or ye shall know them by the manner and air of their speaking, and emphasis and pathos of expression, or by their speaking feelingly, or by making a very great show by abundance of talk, or by many tears and affectionate expressions, or by the affections ye feel in your hearts towards them; but by their fruits shall ye know them; the tree is known by its fruit; every tree is known by its own fruit."

1. What are some of the scriptural statement used by cult leaders to separate members from their own families in order to build loyalty to their group?

2. Why do you think that it's not a good idea to shun family members who are not Christian?

3. What is the last commandment on the first tablet of stone given to Moses, and what promise was given with it?

4. When Jesus delivered the demon-possessed man, he wanted to go with Jesus. Why didn't Jesus allow this?

5. In the Gospels, who were some of the children who were brought to Jesus by their parents?

6. Can the words of Paul, "you will be saved - you and your household" be applied to our families today?

7. What evidence do we have that Job and Abraham were both godly fathers and family oriented?

8. According to Genesis 6 and Hebrews 11, what are some of the spiritual commendations given to Noah?

9. What might have been some of the factors that would lead Noah's grown sons and their wives to enter the ark and thus survive the flood?

10. Is it acceptable for Christians to neglect their own family members in order to do the Lord's work? If not, why not?

11. How does "faith condemn the world"?

12. According to Ezekiel (Chapter 14), what kind of idolatry would make it nearly impossible for sons and daughters to be saved?