Abstract
In a comprehensive, reachable way, Jerry Pipes and Victor Lee share their doctrines, faith, and ideas regarding the bedrock of the Church being situated in the strong pillar of family. Their image of family is both inspiring and pragmatic, concluding in an encouragement toward the building of the family church and the preservation of familial spiritual life. Their book Family to Family: Leaving a Lasting Legacy helps their readers understand that they have to go back to a bold and unyielding proclamation of the truthfulness of the Word of God. It clearly explains the nature of the Church's founding, doctrines, and teachings, and that their spiritual content was based on the absolute power of God's Word. Pipes and Lee encourage families to look at their spiritual lives in accordance to the Bible and the teachings of the Church, ensuring whether God is truly at the center of their marriage and family.
Concrete Response
The Bible warns us that when we evangelize we will certainly suffer oppositions, criticisms, and condemnations, especially on our own home, from our own family. Jesus Christ as the Messiah was accepted in some places, but not in His own community. He was questioned, doubted, and defied by the people He grew up with. Pipes and Lee acknowledged this fact and encouraged their readers to remain steadfast in their mission to evangelize their families despite difficulties. I, myself, have experienced the immense difficulty of evangelizing my own family, especially my parents. I have decided to join a Christian community where I have learned that God gave us a mission, known as the Great Commission. This mission obliges us to spread God's Word everywhere and carry souls back to God's embrace. Naturally, I tried evangelizing my family first.
I was totally disheartened when my parents bluntly rejected my invitation to join the Christian community I am in, remarking that they do not have time for such “things”. They even told me that it is enough to go to Church on Sundays and refrain from doing bad things. They further said that God understands that people do not have the time for other Christian activities, like joining Christian groups, hence He did not require them. I was totally dumbfounded hearing these from my parents, considering that they were the ones who taught me to be religious. Pipes and Lee said that family evangelization begins with the parents, and that “the heartbeat of family evangelism is with the parents”. However, sadly, my parents' evangelism is quite shallow and fragile. But I did not falter and made the resolve that I will continue to encourage my parents to have a deeper relationship with God through community, fellowship, and discipleship.
Reflection
Without a doubt, Pipes and Lee have successfully provided their readers definite, workable steps to evangelize the family. Unfortunately, families today, especially those in wealthy societies, are too preoccupied with the daily hustle of lives. This complication is rampant all over the world. Numerous families are completely taking for granted the value of their spiritual lives. Nonetheless, Pipes and Lee provided a clear path toward a God-led life, stating that families should have a mission statement. According to them, “A family mission statement will serve as a centerline and guardrails for your family on the road through life”. Much of this statement has been discussed in the book.
However, there are several questions left unanswered by the authors. One question is, what really is more important, evangelism or knowing God's true identity? The authors particularly underline the significance of knowing the true identity of God, and argued that this could be accomplished by knowing Jesus Christ. Yet, it becomes confusing when the subsequent sections of the book devote the discussion to evangelism, which could give the idea that evangelism is more important than knowing God's true identity. This could make efforts to evangelize the family somewhat superficial and flimsy. The authors should have shown that evangelism and knowing God's true identity strongly co-exist, which means that one will be futile and void without the other.
Another question is, how does the principles and suggestions of the book relate to families that are not religious or spiritually inclined to begin with? It seems that the authors are assuming that all their readers are already acquainted with the notion of evangelism and have a significant understanding of God. Moreover, the book only pertains to the traditional family-- father, mother, and children. How about unconventional family arrangements, such as extended families? How should they go through with the mission of evangelism? These are some of the questions that the authors were not able to resolve in the book.
Action
Based on the discussion of Pipes and Lee, these three actions toward family evangelism are formulated. The first is helping all the members of the family be fully acquainted with the mission of evangelism or discipleship. The mission of Jesus in His ministry was to evangelize the twelve disciples and, consequently, to promote discipleship. This was the motivation of Jesus Christ and where He committedly focused on. Just like Jesus Christ, the head of the family should find time to teach to his/her family the kingdom of God, encouraging them to live beyond their current circumstances and exist in the promise of eternal life. The core mission is to make every member of the family a believer, an evangelizer or disciple, and a worker for God's mission. This could be done through weekly households, where all the members of the family, especially the children, are gathered together to read their chosen Bible readings or verses, pray loudly, and share inspiring experiences. These activities would form a spiritual habit, that is, the constant act of knowing God's true identity through Bible reading and sharing of life experiences to inspire others.
The second action is helping the Christian community create a Church in every house. One of the most important missions of the Church is to assist families in gaining knowledge and understanding the principles and teachings of the family church and integrating them into the everyday lives of married couples and entire families. This could be done through regular community lecture groups, wherein a minister would talk about the importance of strengthening marriages and renewing the families in the Holy Spirit. In these lecture groups, there will be a discussion of the experiences and lives of community leaders so as to inspire the other members to aspire to become leaders themselves or upgrade their service to God. Through this, families and married couples will have a greater understanding of the value of the family church, not only to the families themselves, but also to the entire Christian community.
Third step is to commit the entire family to the building of the family church. Dedication to helping families create and sustain a family church calls for the following measures. Primarily, local churches should be equipped and willing to support the endeavors of families as they try to flourish in this mission. Moreover, local communities should be ready to accommodate and reinforce the unavoidable changes in their lives that may emerge as families become more committed to their spiritual wellbeing. These steps can only be accomplished through strong, unbreakable dedication to the family church, and definite implementation plans and strategies. I recommend a program to strengthen the mission of family church by means of evangelizing engaged couples, married couples, their families, and, most importantly, their children.
Bibliography
Jones, Timothy. Perspectives on Family Ministry: Three Views. New York: B&H Publishing Group, 2009.
Pipes, Jerry and Victor Lee. Family to Family: Leaving a Lasting Legacy. USA: North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1999.
Warner, Katie. Head & Heart: Becoming Spiritual Leaders for Your Family. Steubenville, Ohio: Emmaus Road Publishing, 2015.
