Christian Family: The ultimate training and testing ground for discipleship
We have just had our Family Month. I am glad to see that there has been much interest shown in building up Christian families.
There are biblical principles and useful models and techniques for building a Christian family, but these cannot be truly put into practice unless the family members are committed to Christ, i.e. be true disciples of Jesus. How can a husband love his wife with a sacrificial love, requiring a denial of his own self-centeredness? How can a wife submit to her husband in a major decision when she holds a different point of view and is convinced that she has greater experience and insight into the matter? How can children obey their parents when they feel that the parents’ instructions and outlook on life are out of date and unreasonable? How can parents love their children in a God-centered way, and be counter-cultural in passing on biblical values to them? The answer to all these questions is that all members of the family have to be transformed by the Lord through discipleship.
One may think that, surely, it is harder to be Christ-like outside the family, since within the family, members are bonded together with established relationships that commence with love. To some extent this is true. It is easier to love a family member than a total stranger. On the other hand, within the family, discipleship has to be exercised 24/7. There is no hiding place for hypocrisy. Our family members see us at our best and worse. They hear our views and see our actions that reflect our personality when we are least on guard. Moreover, in family conversations, feelings and experiences of interaction with the church community and "neighbours" would be mentioned. Therefore, it would be revealed also whether the members' personal relationships outside the family are biblical or not. So, within the family, we are presenting much more of our true selves, warts and all. To that extent, it is the ultimate training and testing ground for discipleship.
The church community is here to support our Christian families. We pray that CPC, through her various ministries and small groups will be able to effectively teach and encourage each family member to live their role biblically. In this way, the family has shared biblical principles and ideals to work toward. We also pray that there will be sufficient trust within small groups that joy and pain in family life can be shared for mutual encouragement and edification. We also pray that the ministers and pastors can earn sufficient trust from brothers & sisters to be able to exercise counsel and mediation in any family conflict at an early stage.
Family Month 2023 is just the beginning of a long journey to make CPC a family-focused church. Let us persevere together under God’s grace to make her so.
基督化家庭：作門徒的訓練和考驗之終極場所
我們剛度過了家庭月，我很高興看到大家對建立以基督為中心的家庭生活表現出了濃厚的興趣。
有不少聖經原則及有效的範例和技巧可以教導我們如何建立一個以基督為中心的家庭，但若家庭成員沒有委身基督，即成為耶穌真正門徒，這些原則和技巧都無法派上用場。一個丈夫怎能捨棄自我中心的傾向並以犧牲的愛去愛他的妻子? 如果妻子在重大決策中持有與丈夫不同的觀點，並確信自己有更豐富的經驗和見地時，她怎能順服丈夫？當孩子覺得父母的教導和人生觀不合時宜、不合情理時，怎能服從父母？父母如何能在世俗價值當道時，以神為中心的方式愛他們的孩子，並傳授他們聖經的價值觀？所有這些問題的答都是──家庭裡的所有成員都必須都作主門徒，並被主轉化生命。
有人可能會認為，在家庭以外更難活出基督的樣式，因為在家庭中，成員們之間已經建立了以愛為開始的關係。在某程度來說，這是對的，愛家人比愛一個陌生人容易。但另一方面，在家庭裡，作主門徒門是無間斷的，「偽善」沒有藏身之處，我們最好和最壞的一面都會讓家人看到──他們會聽到和看到我們在不提防的時候那些反映自己眞個性的觀點和行為。此外，在家庭的交談中也會提及與教會的肢體及「鄰舍」相交及互動的感受和經驗。所以成員在家庭外的人際關係是否合乎聖經原則也一覧無遺。因此，在家庭中，我們展示了更多真正的自己，包括所有的失敗和缺點，所以，它是作門徒訓練和考驗的終極場所。
教會群體在此應支持我們建立基督化的家庭。我們祈求主讓雪梨華人長老會通過各種事工和小組，能夠有效地教導和鼓勵每個家庭成員按照聖經履行他們在家庭的角色。這樣，家庭成員就有了共同的聖經原則和理想作根基，一起並肩前行建立基督化家庭。我們也祈求主幫助小組成員之間能培養足夠的信任，可以分享彼此家庭生活中的快樂和痛苦，並互相鼓勵和造就；我們還祈求主幫助牧者同工們能夠贏得弟兄姐妹足夠的信任，讓他們可以在家庭衝突的早期階段提供輔導和調解。
二零二三年的家庭月是雪梨華人長老會開展漫長旅程成為一個著重家庭的教會，讓我們在主的恩典下共同堅持努力。
