Does Christ Live In Your Home?

Where do you think the most important place in the world is ?

Many would say MOSCOW, or Washington, or the U.N. headquar­ters in New York City. Others might say Jerusalem, the future capitol of the world; or Mt. Sinai, the possible site of the judgment seat of Christ.

My answer is that for each one of us, our own home is the most important place in the world. This is because our acceptance or re­jection at the judgment seat of Christ will be decided primarily by our conduct in our homes. Our own home is the real testing place of our characters.

For example, our conduct at Sunday services or Bible class is no real measure of our characters. We are all on our good behavior. We have a friendly smile and a firm handshake for everyone—we are putting our best foot forward. We are in a reverent attitude, with a feeling of love in our hearts.

Likewise, in our daily occupations we are not really tested. In the office, talking over business matters, or when we call on custo­mers, it is easy to put on a veneer of likeableness and cooperation. We know we have to hold our tongue and hide our emotions or our jobs would be at stake.

But the opposite applies in our homes. Here we are our true selves. We can shout when we want to, we can lay down and do nothing when we want to, we can read when we want to, we can watch what we want to on television. We are little kings and queens in our own homes. We can be selfish, im­patient, cranky, or domineering.

And no one can stop us. And if the windows are shut, no one can over­hear us. No one, that is except for our wife or husband. And one other :

“He that planted the ear, shall He not hear?”
“He that formed the eye, shall He not see ?”

The point is that our home is the place where we let down the barriers, where we are truly our­selves. It is in these unguarded hours of our lives that our true characters come out.

In Matt. 12 :36 we read :

“Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judg­ment.”

Idle words are not our prepared speeches, nor our carefully thought out comments ; but those we ex­press in our homes when only our family can hear us, or when we are under emotional stress and not thinking: when we are angry and have lost our patience. This then is the first reason why our homes are so important to us : it is the place where our salvation is being decided because it is where we are revealing our true characters.

But there is a second reason why the home is important. It is im­portant because it is the one place where we, as parents, control the environment. It is the only place in the world where we alone have the right and the responsibility to govern, establish and enforce rules that will give glory to God.

So often in business, in our so­cial contacts, even among our rela­tives, we cannot control the environment. If it is displeasing to God, we leave it ; but we cannot control it. In our homes, on the other hand, we are required to set the pattern, to create the en­vironment. It is a lot easier to say, I am not going to mix with a group that are evil minded, than it is to create a spiritual atmosphere in your own home. One requires a polite decline ; the other a positive action.

An eminent child psychologist has stated that a child learns more from the conversation in a home than from any other source. A child learns by imitation. How does he learn to speak? By listen­ing to others. To dress ? By observ­ing and being guided by his mother. Likewise a child learns spiritual lessons by the example of the parents. Your ways become his ways.

In Deuteronomy 6: 6,7 we read:

“These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently un­to thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

These then are the two reasons why our homes are so important :

  1. We show our true selves, our true characters in our homes.
  2. We have a duty to control the environment — for good or evil. Our decisions will af­fect the salvation of both our­selves and our family.

These thoughts illustrate how important our title is—Does Christ live in your home? And this ques­tion leads to another one — How do we measure how much of the spirit of Christ is in our homes ? We do this by examining our homes objectively, by comparing cur family conduct to the pages of Scripture. Let’s give ourselves a little test:

  1. Do our children hear more discussion of interior decora­ting and lawn care than they do of the daily readings?
  2. Do our children see that Christ is the head of our fam­ily? Do his commandments guide our family decisions?
  3. Do we feed our children vita­min pills every day and then let them suffer from spiritual malnutrition?
  4. Do our neighbors see the spirit of Christ in us? Have we ever told them what Christadelphians believe?

But  the surest way of all to ans­wer the question — Does Christ live in your home? is to ask an­other one — Would Christ want to live in your home? Would he be happy there? The answer is de­cisive. Unless Christ is welcome in our homes today, unless he would be content there; then, in the age to come, we shall not be invited into Christ’s home — his throne in the kingdom of God on earth.