Matthew 10:34-36 - Family

Matthew 10:34-36 (ESV)

[34] “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. [35] For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. [36] And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.

This is a difficult passage, but it causes me to reflect on our current culture. With the breakdown of the family our culture’s response has been one of two things. Some have attempted to redefine family. You hear and see this repeatedly in our television programs and movies. Our friends are our family. Our co-workers become our family. Our bar buddies are our family. Family is held to be of highest importance, but what makes a family is redefined. The other response is to exalt the traditional family to highest importance even if that means overlooking sinful behavior. The family must be protected at all costs. Yet Jesus said, “I have come to set a man against his faither . . . a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.” There is a higher priority than family, and that is God.

We must be careful to understand what that means. Making God priority does not mean making my ministry priority to the point that it destroys my family. Making God priority does not mean making the local church priority to the point that I ignore my family. There are too many PKs living with bitterness because their father made the church a priority over his family, or the church demanded priority over his family. God and the church are not the same thing. In my commitment to God, my family is important. But it is not so important that I wink at sin or ignore abusive behavior.

This is a difficult passage. It ends with these words, “And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt 10:38-39). Is it possible that we have at times exalted family above God? The question is worth considering.