Introduction
What comes into your mind when you hear the word, household? What does that word instantly make you think of? For many of us, we simply equate the word household with dwelling, and maybe with family. However, most would probably prefer the seemingly warmer word of “home” when thinking about their dwelling or their family. After all, home is where the heart is. We used to speak of such things as broken homes as well, but we don’t hear that phrase too much anymore, because broken implies a standard of the way things ought to be, and it also implies a way to fix what is broken, namely, conformity to the norm.
The word household and all that stands behind it is even a much bigger word than that of family, though it includes it, and dwelling, though a family is typically centralized somewhere. The household is an institution, and economy. In fact, it is the institution on which all other institutions are to be built. But this already implies much, like a clear understanding of marriage. Before one could rightly understand what a household is, they would need to understand what a family is, which means they would then have to an understanding of what marriage is. However, that’s not all, because what stands behind a proper understanding of marriage is a proper understanding of what it means to be a man and a woman.
Therefore, the household is founded on a man and a woman entering into a covenant for life before the Lord. But a proper understanding of masculinity and femininity enables us to understand the roles that both are to play and contribute within that marriage, which also further defines their roles as father and mother.
So then, as the two come together in a one flesh union for life, the man comes in on mission and his wife is now on submission. That is, her role is subordinate to, but enables the fulfilling of the mission. So then, this marriage grows into a family and becomes a covenant household, that household being a living organism, an entity, an institution if you will, with a shared vision and mission.
This is much, much different than your home being where the heart is or it being a place where you lay your head, or as I saw on a plaque the other day, home is the place where you’re most comfortable pooping – I didn’t by the plaque, but I thought about it. With this in mind, one can begin to see the generational impact of just one faithful and fruitful marriage. Carry this out a couple generations and you cannot only see God’s blessing generationally given, but you can also see how a household as an institution becomes the most foundational building block for a fruitful civilization.
However, you can also see how, that if the household can be perverted, corrupted, manipulated, distorted, contorted…you pick the adjective, how that will have a ripple effect all the way down and all the way through our society. C.R. Wiley, writes, in his awesome little book titled, The Household and the War for the Cosmos,
“In part of Connecticut where I live today we literally have crumbling foundations everywhere. The reason is a mineral that went undetected in a concrete mix from a local quarry. For years this quarry churned out the bad mix and no one knew – not even the owners of the quarry. In some cases million-dollar homes that look fine from the street stand condemned. Metaphorically, something similar has occurred in our culture. Western civilization still has curb appeal. Things like economic growth, advances in medicine, and an emphasis on human rights seem to indicate that things are in good shape. But something has been added to the mix that serves as the intellectual and spiritual basis for that society. The institutions at the foundation of our way of life don’t seem solid any longer. And the most important of these institutions is the household.”
…“Paradoxically, many of the other institutions in our society that once relied upon the household have turned against it.”
This is very much true. The Biblical household which was once seen as the necessary foundation for all of society and its flourishing is now outrightly disdained. The causes of this are far more insidious, than simply a few alternative lifestyle choices, and the consequences of this are far more devastating than most are willing to admit, even in the church. So then, in good Godly Troublemaker fashion we want to expose strongholds and not only tear them down but also build up mighty fortresses (biblical households) that are troubling to a troubled world because they are of the Godly Troublemaking sort.
God’s House, Your House, and The War for The Cosmos
Some may say that we are putting the cart before the horse on this one, in that we should start from the beginning. That is, we should start with biblical masculinity and femininity and then work our way outward, with the biblical household being our final destination. This isn’t necessarily wrong, and we will have forthcoming episodes on all of those topics, but sometimes it does help to get the big picture first.
Our youngest is nine years old right know and he has been on a bit of a Lego bender for about two years. He loves Lego’s. Anyone who has ever done Lego’s knows that whatever it is that you are building goes together one brick at a time. However, before you ever begin, you see a great big picture on the box of what the end will be. So, that’s kind of the idea here.
One may be tempted to ask, if the household is so important and foundational to the flourishing of everything else why is it not being attacked. Well, it is, just indirectly. When you have strong Biblical household in-tact they are very hard to fight against directly. And when there is a great multitude of them, your culture starts to become tyranny proof, because proper authority is first defined in this sphere and then flows out from there. However, the household is being attacked and attacked aggressively, but it is being attacked downstream as to ensure that strong biblical households are never built.
If you mix up all of the ingredients that are to go into a cake, the cake isn’t going to taste very good. Or, sticking with my Lego analogy, if you put the wrong parts in the wrong spots or just omit some pieces all together, or just follow the desires of your heart as you build, what you end up with will not reflect the ideal on the outside of the box. Such is the case here, with the household, and because the component parts have been so violently attacked or perverted we’ve reduced, a household, simply to a place where people lay their head.
Biblical masculinity has been mocked, maligned, molested and marginalized, and not only that, it’s also considered “toxic. Furthermore, Biblical fatherhood is dead, for the most part and has been turned into a trope and a stereotype. Meanwhile, Biblical femininity has been raped by feminism leaving motherhood to be despised and thought of as something that hinders your career. It should come as no surprise then, that babies are seen as an inconvenience, or if one can turn lemons into lemonade, an accessory for Instagram photos, #momlife.
Ironically the sexual revolution gave feminism an injection of testosterone leaving us with people popping birth control like skittles, increased cohabitation, out of wed-lock births, welfare and increased state dependance, homosexuality, transgenderism, pagan earth worship, government education, no fault divorce and 61 million babies slaughtered. This has left our country with the rich construction materials worthy of building and Aztec temple.
When you kick against the goads and rebel against what God has designed you will always tear down what you’re trying to build up somewhat like using coffee to remove stains. Trying to tear down a house that is well built and has a foundation on the Rock is hard to tear down. A house with its foundation built on sand that’s been rotting away for decades is a different story. This is not an isolated rot. It works its way all the way through, and all the way down by design.
“if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3).
The importance of the roles of men and women, and how this translates into marriage as husbands and wives, and the end and purpose of marriage, and the identity change that brings to husbands and wives creating fathers and mothers cannot be overstated. The goal of marriage is godly offspring that will fill the earth with the glory of God. As this marriage, this family matures it grows into a household. Only when we understand God’s design for the household and how it is to function, and what it is to be and do in the world can we then fully understand what it means for us to be brought into the household of God. Of which, the apostles and prophets are the foundation with Jesus being the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19-20).
This also means that our mission and calling cannot be seen in purely individualistic ways. Jesus sent out His disciples out to subdue nations but where does said subdoing begin?
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on 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.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9
We are to apply the word of God to everything. From the baking of a pie to the planting of a tree. From the starting of a business to the leading of a military unit. From the crafting of a law all the way down to its enforcement. All things are to be brought under the Lordship of Christ and the power of His law/Word. In every sphere because every sphere is His. There is no neutrality.
The place where this is first learned and cultivated, and advances is the household. The household is the first church, the first economy, the first school, the first hospital, the first government and so on. Again, to quote Wiley at length,
“…imagine a world without business corporations, or social welfare agencies, or factories, or daycare centers. Where do you suppose people made a living, or found help when they needed it? In their households, naturally…First of all, a household wasn’t a building. It wasn’t even a family – although it certainly included one. Essentially a household was an authority structure. The reason that authority was essential was because a household was an economy. The etymology of that word tells a story. It is derived from two Greek words, oikos, meaning house, and nomos, meaning law; an economy was the law of the house. It directed the labors of its members toward their common good; it’s what kept people working together. Household economies were based on some productive enterprise, usually farming, or a trade. Sometimes they were subsistence economies – where people eked out a living. Other times they produced goods for the market. Either way, in a premodern world households were nearly the only thing going. They produced food, clothing, and nearly everything else worth having. And on top of that, they were social welfare agencies, educating the young, and caring for the elderly. People depended on them for almost everything.”
Am I proposing that we return to a premodern world? Sometimes the quickest way forward is to go backwards, however, I’m not proposing the return to a premodern world, nor would that even be possible. What I am proposing is that we do need to think in terms of the centrality of the household in God’s economy so as to apply those same principles today. This not only has very real time practical value in our lives, but also has great theological value as we grow in our understanding of what it means to be members in the household of God.
Unfortunately, not only have we’ve lost the weight of this term, we’ve almost completely lost its use entirely. There are a multitude of contributing factors, but on a macro level, the industrial revolution separated man from his labor and the sexual revolution removed women from the household. This had the effect of minimizing the impact and effectiveness and contribution of both men and women to the household, by separating and corrupting the collective telos of their labors. The devil always takes away with his left what he promises with his right.
All of this is by the devil’s design. Every war includes an air war. We call this education, or in this case, propaganda. That is, lies being told or truths being manipulated. We see this from the very beginning with the insidious question, “Did God really say?” It should also be noted that the devil’s strategy from the very beginning to thwart the cultural mandate was to attack male and female roles within marriage.
The devil prefers compliance over resistance. Not surprising, Big Brother feels the same way. In order to effectively control people you have to control their language so that you can control thought. When you remove a word or stigmatize it or redefine it you not only control the ideas associated with the word but also the way of living that the word suggests. This has the effect of making what is normative abnormal.
People no longer see the household as an economy with a shared mission and vision that thinks in terms of generations, inheritance, and legacy. They no longer see it as the fundamental building block of civilization. No, the household has been reduced to a place of leisure. And this is not leisure as defined by the Greeks, somewhat like a “productive play,” but rather in the American way of sitting around on our ass producing nothing and then calling that rest. But here in lies the million-dollar question. If we see our households that way how will we see God’s household and our place in it? The answer, in very much the same way.
Is there a verse we can go to that says this is what a household is? Well, not really. In order to understand the Biblical idea a household we have to understand it thematically. That is, it is more of a theme that runs all the way through the pages of Scripture. Therefore, let me pour out what will appear to be some randomness, but I promise to circle back like Jen Psaki with the attempt of making sense of all of it.
What is a temple? A temple is simply a house or a dwelling for a god. Now, if I asked what does the word cosmos mean most would answer, world. This would not be wrong, however the word cosmos meant something broader in scope for the ancient world than our word world does for us. C.R. Wiley points this out when he says,
“The cosmos was more than matter in motion for them. It was an ordered thing – the largest order of them all. That’s what the word actually meant. It included everything, even invisible things. And it also housed microcosms – little orders that depended on and reflected the larger ones. If they didn’t, they couldn’t exist.”
Paul says this in opening words to the Ephesian church,
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” Ephesians 1:3-4
The word that Paul uses here for world is actually cosmos. That is the order that contain all order.
John’s Gospel begins with these familiar words,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5
Creation is Trinitarian. Which means we begin with absolute Personhood, but all of this is through Christ, ordered by the Father and empowered by the Spirit.
“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:16-17
God created by divine fiat, through His power, His creativity, His love. All things then, are to be ordered and subdued to that end. The pagan world agreed about the cosmos, and one could even argue that, in part, they agreed that the Logos was the governing order behind the order. However, they disagreed on its origin, or rather who and what the Logos was which distorted their view of the cosmos which many believed came about through a violent process of the gods warring against themselves. Gods imposing order on rival gods.
Back to the idea of the temple. The god that occupies the temple will determine the type of order that is imposed. The word for house in Latin is domus…it’s where we get our word domestic or domicile. Interestingly enough, it’s also where we get our word dominion. In the beginning you have the universe (outer court), and the earth (the holy place) and Eden (holy of holies).
Adam was given the charge to make the rest of the world like Eden. To expand the Holy of Holies, or if you will, to fill the earth with the glory of the Lord. That is, to have dominion over all of creation, to subdue it, to make it habitable, a fit dwelling for God. This dominion, this glory expansion would begin with Adam’s household. However, Adam fell into sin, and with him, his household, and all his progeny.
We see this pattern repeated throughout Scripture all of which adding layers to our understanding of what our New Covenant Head would accomplish and require. We see this with Noah in the command to be fruitful, to multiply, to fill and to subdue earth. Again we see this with Abraham. And then, we see this through the establishment of the people of God as a Nation and later, we see this through the Davidic promise and kingdom.
When the people of God constructed the Tabernacle and later the Temple all of the imagery inside was meant to look like Eden. However, the people of God were never confused into thinking that’s God’s dwelling was isolated to the Temple (1 Kings 8:27; Acts 17:22-25).
Then we see in Ezekiel’s vision, the water that flows out from the temple in all directions that will progressively renew all life on earth (Ezekiel 47:1-12). Fast forward to the coming of Christ, who is God incarnate, God dwelling/tabernacling with His people. What did Jesus tell the woman at the well?
“whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14
What did Jesus say at the Feast? “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37-38). What came out of Jesus’ side at the Cross? “But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.” (John 19:34). I believe John sees at the end of Revelation (Revelation 22:1-5), at least in part, this is actually describing the advance of the gospel in the world. John is seeing what Ezekiel saw beginning to be fulfilled.
Before the calling of Abraham we have Babel. The people were to be fruitful and multiply and subdue. They didn’t do that. They sought to make their name great instead of God’s through the centralization of power and constructing a tower to the heavens. God confused their language and spread them out over the earth. God would make His name great, and He would do so through the Offspring of Abraham.
What was Pentecost? It wasn’t just the outpouring of the Holy Spirit it was also the reversal of Babel. God was bringing the nations together through Abraham’s Offspring. What does that mean for the people of God given a long enough timeline? Remember God’s words at Babel, “And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” (Genesis 11:6).
Jesus is counted worthy of more glory than Moses – as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself (Hebrews 3:3). Moses was faithful as a servant, but Jesus was faithful as a Son (Hebrews 3:5-6). Jesus is the great Hight Priest over all of God’s house (Hebrews 10:19:22)…What is God’s house? Through Christ, we are God’s house (1 Peter 2:4-10…Ephesians 2:19-22).
As the household of God grows what does that mean? Dominion! It means guarding, keeping, cultivating, conquering, building, filling, and subduing for the glory of God. Because all authority has been given to Christ and because He is with us always, we can make disciples of all nations. Circling all the way back, the advance of the kingdom in the world doesn’t end in our homes but it certainly begins there. Our households then, are ground zero in the war for the cosmos.
Conclusion
If we are going to see any cultural reform in our country it is going to begin by gaining a Biblical ideal for the household and then striving towards that end. Yes, the fundamental building blocks of Biblical manhood and womanhood are necessary, as is the building of a Godly marriage. The pursuit of those things are pleasing to the Lord, but those are things that are not particularly ends in and of themselves.
The telos of being a Godly man or woman is being a Godly father and mother. The end of which is Godly offspring. We were created to glorify God, but we glorify Him through dominion and this dominion happens through our households.
You may be like me in that your family tree looks more like a ravaged bush, than an oak. Which is to say it’s a hot mess all the way down and you have no experiential knowledge to pull from, or it could be that your home simply isn’t what you know the Lord would have it to be. The prospect of trying to build a Godly legacy or bring reform to your home seems an impossible task.
This is good because nothing is impossible with God. He brings healing, and direction, and strength and peace. You have to trust in Him and His promises to bless your home. But you can’t get anywhere if you don’t start somewhere. So no matter where you’re today, come to Jesus. What are some smalls things you can start with today that would be a pleasing aroma to the Lord and a stench to the world. Do that, and then do again, and don’t stop.
When we think of the term household we should not only have warm sentimental feelings. We should not only think of joy, acceptance, deep love and creativity. We should also think of expansion, and conquest, and victory because a Godly household is the greatest threat to a sin ravaged world.
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