Journal: Emmaus Journal
Volume: EMJ 21:2 (Winter 2012)
Article: Some Final Thoughts: The Christian Home An Exposition Of Colossians 3:18–21
Author: David J. MacLeod

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EMJ 21:2 (Winter 2012) p. 105

Some Final Thoughts: The Christian Home1
An Exposition Of Colossians 3:18–21

David J. MacLeod

Dave MacLeod is Dean for Biblical Studies at Emmaus Bible College and Associate Editor of The Emmaus Journal.

Introduction

Several decades ago Drs. K. E. Appel and Martin Goldberg, both psychiatrists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, contended that the American family was “in crisis.”2 Things have not changed since they wrote. More recently, Alexander Strauch, well known conference speaker and church renewal advocate, said, “The modern family is in trouble.” On a more graphic note, he said that the modern family is “a mess!”3 Patrick Fagan of the Heritage Foundation in Washington said that this crisis is the cause of many social problems plaguing American society, such as poverty, welfare dependency, and crime.4 This crisis is surprising! Never before in the history of the human race has there been more written on the subject of marriage and family living. Never have there been so many controlled experiments and

EMJ 21:2 (Winter 2012) p. 106

scientific investigations of the home. Marriage counselors are legion. Child guidance clinics are on the increase. Yet the family is in crisis. One survey showed that 71 percent of Americans felt the family was in trouble. Another study (by a Christian psychiatrist) found that 75 percent of those married considered their marriages a failure.5

The experts cite several reasons for the current crisis, many of which we have considered in earlier articles in this series. One major factor in the present instability of marriages is the great uncertainty about marriage roles. Women are not certain they really want to be wives and mothers. Men are unsure they want to be husbands and fathers. Children are not given the opportunity to experience true childhood and family life—they are being raised more by nannies, day care centers, the Boy Scout troop, and the high school coach than they are by loving fathers and mothers. All this leads to communication between family members that is sparse, strained, and static-ridden.6

A major factor in this modern uncertainty is the contemporary assault against biblical teaching by modern feminism.7 This movement has led to a blurring of the roles of men and women. Many churches have caved in be...

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