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Christian Family Principles
Written by Dr. Lester Hutson

Copyright - Lester Hutson - 1981
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.

Society's Building Block

Chapter Eight

INTRODUCTION: Text * Hebrews 13:4

Now I am going to discuss with you society's building block. I am using the term society in the sense of a group of people, all of which form a community of interdependent individuals. All of us are living in a society. Whatever we do affects the society to some degree, and what the society as a whole does always ultimately affects us.

God has established three basic institutions for the society: the government, the church and the home. The first and most basic of these institutions is the home. Long before there ever was a church or a government, God established marriage and the home. God made Adam, and said of him, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him," in Genesis 2:18. So, God made Eve, and brought her to Adam, and right there in the Garden of Eden, when there were only two people on earth, God established the home. Genesis 2:24 reads, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."

Only God knows just how important to society's well-being and health the home really is. It seems too weak to say that sound, stable homes are vital to society's well-being. I do not believe that any society can long survive without strong, Godly homes. Without them, the society will soon break down into immorality, materialism, liberalism, crime, a loss of true values and general chaos and confusion.

I. TODAY THE HOME IS UNDER ATTACK.

A. More than ever, we are living in that age prophesied in I Timothy 4:1-3. These verses say, "Now the spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry...."

1. A Houston psychiatrist expressed the thinking of much modern psychiatry and psychology when he told a young Port Arthur, Texas wife that her husband was bad for her and that she ought to leave him.

2. The courts and laws of our land allow couples to break up on the grounds of mental cruelty and incompatibility. The dissolving of the home is as easy as counting to three.

3. Divorce is condoned and even encouraged on most radio and TV talk shows.

4. Our laws make it possible for adult men and women to live together without marriage, and couples living together prior to marriage to determine whether or not they can make it in marriage is the norm rather than the exception.

5. Many mothers give their daughters birth control pills long before they are married, which is a slap in the face of morality and marriage.

6. We're in that age when they generally say, "Just forget about marriage, and if you are in one you don't like, just break it up. If you like somebody's looks or want companionship and children, just go ahead and live together. Don't bother to get married and establish a home." But, I want you to remember from I Timothy 4:1-3 that this practice of "forbidding to marry" or playing down the importance of the God-ordained home is a "doctrine of devils." Folks, it is wrong, wicked and destructive to the well- being of all that's right and good.

B. It is very difficult in this day to find good, solid, stable homes.

1. As other lessons in this series give statistics to prove, there are about as many divorces granted in our land as there are marriage licenses. A large number of husbands and wives are involved or have been involved is adulterous affairs.

2. Of those still married, so many are unhappy, and in constant turmoil, bickering and strife.

3. Few homes are producing honest, conscientious children of good character. Most have children that are rebellious and spoiled rotten with no sense of responsibility. Thousands upon thousands are involved in crime, illicit sex, drugs, drinking and malicious plundering, and most have no reservations about lying, cheating, bullying, fighting, hypocrisy, hatred, bitterness, greed, pride or any of the other ugly, ungodly character deficiencies of life.

4. From within and without, by direct and by subtle attack, Satan is bringing his biggest guns to bear against the home.

II. BUT, WE MUST NOT ALLOW THE HOME TO BE DESTROYED; SOCIETY NEEDS THE HOME.

A. The secret to a strong society is its spiritual and moral strength.

1. As spiritual concern goes down, all kinds of anemia and deficien- cies develop in a society. Murder, rape, stealing, robbery, abortion, homosexuality, fornication, adultery, shoplifting and drug abuse increase. Drinking, unemployment, welfare, liberalism, mental health problems and all kinds of stress related physical ailments multiply. Failure to live within their means, divorce rates, illegitimate children, a loss of patriotism and an elevation of self-interest results. Society has to hire more law enforcement people, increase taxes, build more prisons, build more mental institutions and make more laws to govern the problems. As a result people slowly but surely lose their individual freedoms.

2. The only way to turn these around is to change the wicked hearts of the people by acquainting them with the Lord, and teaching them the truths of His word which will build genuine character in people. More police, more welfare, better education and such attempts won't solve the problems. But "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new," in II Corinthians 5:17. Men do wrong because "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked," in Jeremiah 17:9, and as a man "thinketh in his heart, so is he," in Proverbs 23:7. But, when a man or woman, boy or girl hears the teaching of God's Word which can produce faith, Romans 10:17, the heart can be changed for "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness," in Romans 10:10. The great truths of God's Word can do two things for men and women, boys and girls, and both are mentioned in II Timothy 3:15-17. First they can "make thee wise unto salvation." That's exactly what society first needs: converted, saved men. Also, God's Word will "thoroughly furnish you unto all good works." Change a man's heart and you will automatically change his actions for the better. From Him you can expect "good" works, not cheating, robbing, raping, drinking and other such evil works.

B. But, where are society's people going to learn the truths of God's word that produce converted, changed hearts, and spiritual, moral strength?

1. The answer is first in the home. It is true that many volumes could be written on how the church ought to teach people these truths, and that is true, but the church was never intended as a substitute for the home, and the responsibilities for right training that lay in the home cannot be rolled over onto the church. Long before there ever was a church, God said to parents, "Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart form it," in Proverbs 22:6.

2. Most people will spend the first eighteen years of their lives in the home. These, especially the first six, are the most formative years of life. This is the time their character is being molded and formed. Every child needs a good home, and every home should, by words and examples to follow, constantly uphold the God of heaven and the glorious truths and principles of right that are set forth in His Word.

3. From the strict standpoint of what the home can contribute to the well-being of the society, there is no question of the need for the home. God has set it up to be the molding stronghold for right- thinking and good character.

C. But, there are other good reasons why society needs the home.

1. Children need it.

a. They not only need the teaching and training which has already been mentioned, but they need the restraint a home can give. Proverbs 29:15 says, "a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame." Just as Jeremiah said, "it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps," in Jeremiah 10:23. So, men and women need to learn restraint, and God has given the home to place that in people in their early years. To the parents in the home, God says, "Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul, " in Proverbs 29:17. When people don't learn boundaries and how to respect them, they are always stepping into someone else's territory, maybe even God's, and the result is that they are always in trouble or at variance or odds with other people. And, when you can't get along with others in this world, you are in for a hard row to hoe.

b. Children also need the shelter the home can and should provide. II Corinthians 12:14 says, "The children ought not to lay up for parents, but the parents for the children." It is obvious enough that children, especially little ones, cannot take care of themselves. They cannot provide their own food, clothing, transportation and shelter. Neither are they mature enough to know what is right and wrong for them in most areas of life. And, since there is far more to a person than a body, the spirit needs love and tenderness. The home can provide these things. In fact, it is the one institution that can best provide these things.

2. Not only children, but husbands and wives, need the home, too.

a. God is the one who said, "It is not good that man should be alone," in Genesis 2:18. God made man a social creature. He needs help. He needs companionship. He needs someone to talk to, and with whom he can share. That's the reason that when God made Eve for Adam, He called her "an help" in Genesis 2:18. Men and women do help each other, and before you ever decide to dissolve your home, you should remember that you have a basic need for each other. Paul wrote, "To avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband," in I Corinthians 7:2.

b. There are joys that can come from a good home that are unparalleled in any other relationship of mortal life. The companionship, love and closeness that can be produced there is beyond proper description. It is true that the majority of homes these days are miserable and very unhappy, but they don't have to be that way. The couples and children who disregard the right principles set forth in God's Word are robbing their own selves of untold joys and happiness.

3. Where there is no home, there automatically results a basic loneliness.

a. I know a young teenage boy who was born illegitimately. During the 13 or 14 years of his life, he has been a ward of the state, and has gone from one institution and foster home to another. One set of his foster parents couldn't afford t keep him after a few years. He got another set, and they divorced after having him for a while. He's been to psychiatrists and all kinds of counsellors. Recently one asked him what he would love most to have in this life. His answer was, "The thing I want most in life is a forever family."

b. Some don't even know the basis of the heart's deep yearning, but the fact is that the need for a good family, a solid home and the warm companionship it can bring, is eating them up. To be loved and wanted, to have someone to care for you, and to share your life is worth more than all of the gold in Fort Knox. Jesus said, "A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth," in Luke 12:15. He asked again in Matthew 6:25, "Is not the life more than meat, and the body more than raiment?" Sure it is. Just ask Naomi if you think life is made good by material goods. She went down to Moab after more material goods, and her life turned bitter as gall in Ruth 1. You can see from verse 21 that this lady finally realized you are better off at home and empty than in Moab and full.

c. Oh, how sad it is to be lonely, to have no one, no place to call home, to wander here and there, always alone. Society needs the home. Men need a place to call home, a place to go and rest, a place to talk to friends and loved ones, a place to which you can return when you've been off to fight in a cruel war. Men don't want to die on foreign soil. They want to go home. They don't want to be buried off somewhere that is strange. They want to be buried at home.

d. Some of the most precious memories I have are thoughts of home, when I was just a boy, and how nice it was to have a good, stable home with a good mother and a good God-fearing daddy. And, oh, how I love my home today, my wife and my children. It is often a shelter in a weary land.

e. I remember a beautiful song that Jimmy Davis used to sing called "Supper Time." He talked about home as a boy, and about supper time and how wonderful it all was. A dear old preacher friend of mine was Leroy Thompson. A few days before he died in Beaumont's Baptist Hospital, I stood over his head, and he faintly said to me, "I want to go home." And, he wasn't talking about to the old home place out in the country. He was talking about his eternal home in heaven, where the Lord is. It is true that we are "strangers and pilgrims" here on this earth. Hebrews 11:13 proves that. We'll never have a really permanent home here on this earth, but John 14:1-3 says God has prepared one in the heavens for those who are His. II Corinthians 5:8 gives us this great promise, "We are confi- dent, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." The literal translation is "at home with the Lord." What a joyous hope for every child of God. We shall go home to heaven, where there will be no quarrelling, no hatred, no rebelliousness, nothing but harmony, love and joy.

f. Meanwhile, let us continue on this earth within the framework on the earthly home, which was ordained of God for our good and society's well-being.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"