But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
- 1 Timothy 5:8
Worse than an unbeliever, oh my gosh, that is serious.
I don't know how to take it. I want to love my family and take care of them so what does it mean though? Am I to provide monetarily or safety?
I guess the answer is yes.
I see the world and it is a travesty, children growing up without fathers and dads; I hurt for them. I want to be a good dad, a Christian dad. I want to imitate God and perfect Fatherhood(in context I'm a dude so Motherhood wouldn't quite work, God doesn't have "gender", (post Candler edit) but alas I can't because I am a mere sinful man. So should I give up trying? No stinking way!
I want to provide for my family monetarily but not in a way that means my family lives in excess and believes that it is owed to them. I want to provide for our needs and teach my children about generosity (granted I want to give them their "I wants" too, what dad wouldn't). I don't want the pursuit of money to "provide" to become a stumbling block in having relationships with my family as we see so often in our society. Thank God I have gotten out of college and remain debt free, and I see that maybe God already had in mind for me able to provide for that future family.
To provide safety, now this one I kind of struggle with but let me explain before you go off and think bad thoughts of me). I have recently come in conflict with past thoughts about war, killing and harm to others. I was brought up in a society where "we are the good guys and we kill the bad guys." Now with the help of God's Word and other spiritual leaders I see Jesus teaching a new strategy in the NT. He says love your enemy, in fact pray for them, turn the other cheek, give them your tunic, walk another mile. So it seems do harm to someone does quite line up with the Gospel message, because Christ died for those despicable things which we would say "derserved to be punished, killed, or hurt." Where am I going with this? Here we go! How do I provide safety and protection for my family? I am at a standstill. Anybody's help would greatly be appreciated because I don't want to have a family someday and be unprepared or seem like an unbeliever. (I guess the big question is do I keep my guns for protection for them or not?)
Oh well comment if you like, any pointers or point of views would greatly be appreciated.
5 comments:
I am reminded of Jesus in the temple and how he used force to clean His Fathers house. What was Jesus doing? Protecting His house. The bible said Jesus "made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple.." He used a whip, times have changed, today you may need a gun.
never thought of that thanks billy
It's such a difficult idea to contend with - one that we, as Christians, don't have the luxury to leave in the world of ideas but have to be, instead, prepared to answer (in actions) should the need arise.
I think the whole of the Bible teaches a reform of humanity - Christ provided that "third answer" that no one was expecting, but answered all of the questions better than the religious or secular ways.
Part of me wants to point towards the infinite number of missionaries who, instead of denying Christ or fighting back, allowed themselves and their families to receive the blunt edge of violence - how Christ was glorified in those instances and how many unbelievers came to know Christ because of it. What are we supposed to do with the story of Abraham who yielded his son to the violence of God though would have probably defended him against an intruder's violence with the sword?
Gosh, I wish there were clearer answers in the Bible! (i.e. - 1 B.S. 1:5 - "When someone breaks into your house, promptly pull out your baseball bat and proceed to whack intruder upon head until he/she does not move. Pray over him/her. Bury remains in back yard. Go back to bed.")
and yet that is what speaks to me throughout Scripture all over the place but the man (future family man i pray to be someday< Lord willing) is to keep those i love from pain and suffering. what a conundrum. we sure do have some good findings in the book of 1 B.S., it sure does make things simpler. this whole situation reminds me of what Eugene Peterson says in Eat this Book of how we are to wrestle with the Bible but wrestle more like a dog wrestles (gnaws) on a bone, devouring and savoring. sometimes I just want to "get to the good part" without wrestling and then i find out the whole process was the good part.
Warning: long and rambling nonsense to follow.
I have no idea. I think about this ALL the time. Here is what I have so far: We are redeemed people living temporarily in a fallen Creation that groans along with us for that final redemption. Yes, we are to live with the body of Christ in us, but I believe there are times when it is necessary to contend with unfortunate circumstances in this messed-up place. Yes, I believe that "the battle is not Yours, it is the Lord's; stand and see your salvation." (2 Chron. 20? maybe?) But I also believe that sometimes God gives us the means to protect ourselves physically. Does this mean you should shoot and kill an intruder? Well, we learned from a case study in Advanced Composition that that is considered murder. However, does God not provide for us sometimes by giving us paying jobs or wealthy church members or Goodwill? Doesn't He sometimes protect us by sending someone bigger than us who is stern enough to chase away the bully? War happened all throughout the OT, because God's people were fighting for what was theirs and to rid the place of pagan nations. In fact, if they had actually gotten rid of all the people they were supposed to, we probably wouldn't have a lot of the problems we do now. Alas, now we have Jesus and we're supposed to love these people? I don't know how that works, either. But I've been learning that sometimes extremes can be very dangerous. My current opinion is that war is sometimes a necessary and very ugly thing that should be avoided at all costs. But, sometimes it happens, and the best we can do is try to play fair and not come out acting like a worse person than the enemy. Forgive me if I sound passive, because most of the time I am. It's one of those things I'm working on. And Jon Brown, I think if someone broke in your house you'd jump in front of your kid and say "Take me first, but in the name of Jesus you better hope you don't! Vengeance is Mine, saith the Lord!"
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