Rebuilding the Family is a Great Work
By Frank King
And I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?"
– Nehemiah 6:3
SWOT is a valuable tool in the business manager’s tool kit. This acronym is used to analyze the business entity’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Strengths and weaknesses exist inside the entity and are under its control. These are used in responding to the Opportunities and Threats that come from without. As we navigate these perilous times, a SWOT analysis could be of great benefit to the Christian family.
The family that lives biblically has many strengths. We are an integral part of God’s church, which is made up of many strong families. With God as our Father, we thrive. When needs arise we go to fervent prayer, which is powerful and effective (James 5:16). If we want to know God’s perfect plan for the family, we turn to His Word. Here we find that the father is the gatekeeper and spiritual leader of the home and the mother is the nurturer and partner with the father. Together they impart God’s Word to the children, as we read in Deuteronomy 6:4-7: “Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
As we study the Word further, we find that strong families have structure and standards of behavior; that each member of the family takes responsibility for his actions and that each one is accountable to the others. But our potentially strong family is prone to built-in weaknesses. Our children have access to unprotected devices that bring all the evil and filth of Satan’s kingdom into ours. Nehemiah told the enemy: "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?" Dad, don’t leave the family gates open to invasion by the world culture by being absent or uninvolved. If Dad’s much-needed influence is missing, as it is in many households today – the gates are wide open for our sons and daughters to be influenced by any deceptive or perverted interloper.
“You see the trouble we are in,” Nehemiah told the people in Nehemiah 2:17. “Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down.” Without a father present to set them on the right path, the family is in trouble. In times past, we had walls to protect our families from Satan’s attempts to destroy. The home was a sanctuary, with at least one parent home most of the time. Children could feel safe and comfortable under that protection. But now the walls are broken down. Children are sometimes left entirely unattended. Satan’s agenda is constantly before their faces via screens, music, and news. We have allowed him to live in our homes, and he has brought all his allies with him. Our gates, once strong and closed tight against his attack, are becoming burned and useless.
But we have the power to bring God’s grace and strength back into our homes. “Greater is He that is within you than he that is in the world,” it says in 1 John 4:4, and Romans 5:20 tells us that where sin is prevalent, grace is available in even greater strength. God gave us a mighty suit of armor made specifically to “stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:10-17), and it is our duty to equip our family in this full battle regalia. Fathers and mothers, take up the cry: the gates of Hell shall not prevail! Check your church calendar for family-strengthening events, and participate in them.
At the Door Church in Tucson, for example, regular parenting classes are available, as well as marriage classes. The Declare! ministry helps families fight the onslaught of lies perpetrated in the name of Science and History. Quest 119 classes on Wednesday nights equip children to know God through His Word. Weekly ministry for kids age 3 through college is available to assist parents in strengthening their families through Faith Roots, Children’s Church, Little Shepherds, Vision Unlimited, and Alpha Omega. Some resources are available online and via live streaming at www.door.church. In the face of the devil’s onslaught against our homes, parents must make good use of all available godly resources to rebuild the family walls.
Wherever we look, we see premature declarations of the death of the traditional family. From misreported statistics to unsubstantiated “science” to the shaming of biblical values, the world attempts to draw us into its lies. This is not a new tactic. Nehemiah faced the same strategy when Sanballat said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish – stones that are burned?” and Tobiah said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall” (Nehemiah 4:2-3). Sanballats and Tobiahs still mock our walls today. Children who make a stand for Jesus are ridiculed – not just by their classmates, but many times by their teachers also. Rather than supporting a parent’s admonitions to sexual purity as described in Hebrews 13:4, children are taught “safe” sex, “toleration” (for sin, but not for righteous living), and “ morality” contrary to the Bible.
In February 2019, “Pastor” Nadia Bolz-Weber presented feminist icon and abortion supporter Gloria Steinem with a statue of female genitalia fashioned from melted purity rings. The rings were collected from young girls who had received them from their fathers and other caring family members. In return, they were issued a “shameless impurity ring” and a “Certificate of Impurity” stating that each “vowed to lead a shameless, open and free life, with love for themselves and their body.” In these last days, Satan has launched an all-out assault on the Christian family. His report is always ungodly, and ever present in the agenda of the media, schools, and politicians. Nehemiah records that “when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he became furious and was filled with indignation.” This same satanic spirit of fury and indignation is evident in today’s venomous attacks upon the Christian family.
The threats are ubiquitous, but God is with us. God has given us His Word, faithful and true, and Tobiah and Sanballat cannot stand up against its truth. Equip your children with the truth before they encounter the lies. “Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace” (Nehemiah 2:17). Building strong families is a great work. Strong families make up a strong church, and strong churches support strong families.
Get a vision for building your family. This could start with an honest SWOT analysis. Mom and Dad should take an evening to sit down together and ask the hard questions concerning the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats that they face in their individual family. Create a vision for your family and create the draft of a plan to realize that vision. Then, enlist the entire family in the finalization of that plan. As Pastor Warner told the Tucson congregation, rebuilding is a team sport!
Here’s a hint: kids will be more likely to buy into the vision if you ask for their input in creating the final plan. Order pizza and sit around the table discussing what we are going to do to counteract Satan’s plans. Then, go on the offensive! Why wait around for the next attack to come? You have heard of the Church Militant? Well, this is the Family Militant, or Activists for Better Families. Lead the charge! Get involved in your schools. Vote for decent politicians who will reflect your family’s values. Start neighborhood groups to make your area safer and less of a threat to families. Become a wall-building family today!