In the beginning God made a man; from that man He made a woman; from the pair He made a family; from the family there comes society, the Church, the state, and all other associations known to man. The family is clearly central to the Biblical way of life, and it is the family under God, which has this centrality. The old Scotsman James Murphy said, “The family is God’s institution for earthly happiness, holiness and progress.” If the family, under God is destroyed so is the Church, the state and society as a whole. When the Church is blessed with the enjoyment of peace and happiness, and adorned with holiness, it is because families are so. The strength of any society is in the family. And when the traditional family begins to deteriorate it will not be long until the society will experience chaos. A society first learns law and order in the family. When there is a breakdown of the principles of law and order in the home there immediately follows a breakdown in society. Crime and violence rise to ultimate heights. B.M. Palmer said, “It is perfectly clear that no government could be framed strong enough to subdue and control a thousand imperious wills. Even now, with all their training under government and law, men could never be held in check if consolidated in masses.” Why are we forced today to finance, through tax dollars, the enlarging and building of new prisons? The present ones are overcrowded. Why are they so? Because families keep turning out rebels and rebels keep breaking the laws of the society. I remember the day when the county in which I was born and grew up in held court only twice a year, and then the docket was very sparse; and it was very seldom that we had a capital crime. Now I understand that court is in session almost non-stop, and capital offenses are very numerous. Why? It is because of the breakdown of the traditional family. Solomon said in the Proverbs, “Train up a child in the way he should go…” Where is this training to take place? It is certainly not in some overcrowded day-care-center or by some cold and uncaring Nanny. It is to be done in the home by a loving, caring Father and Mother. When the foundation finally crumbles (and at its present course it will) do not lay the fault on the Church and its pastor (he and the Church only had them an hour per week, if at all). Put the blame on the fathers and mothers who had other priorities. In I Samuel two God charged Eli with honoring his sons above God. How was he guilty of such? By not rebuking them for the sinful desecration of the holy ceremonies as they ministered in the tabernacle. God discharged the house of Eli from the holy service with these final words, “For them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.”
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