Patriarchy

Recently, I have been listening to the revised sermon series on patriarchy by Rev. Pete Hurst. When he first preached these sermons I tried to listen to them, but he painted with such a broad brush that I was unable to actually get through them. However, he has since revised them, clarifying things. These revised sermons are very good, in my opinion. They address some of the concerns I have had with the "patriarchy" movement today. Many of these concerns center around the idea that instead of giving principles the "patriarchy" movement lays down certain criteria that must be followed (i.e. homeschooling, women not working outside the home, etc) and if a family doesn't follow these things as outlined by the leaders, then the family is somehow blasphemeing the name of Christ. Here is a quote that seems to sum of this attitude.

Some are so used to Mr. and Mrs. "Super Christian" coming along and telling them what to do they haven't grown up to live in the liberty that Christ has given them and serve Him and figure it out for themselves. You are not to live for someone else's approval. You are not to live with someone else dictating to you what to do. You are to live for Christ.

~ Pete Hurst

These sermons can be found here.

I also came across this article on Vision Forum - Preaching the Word in the Family Integrated Church. Since much of Rev. Hurst's arguments are pointed at the Family Integrated Church, I thought it was encouraging that Vision Forum is taking a stand on the important issues in order to guard against the pitfalls that are common among those that emphasize the family. Here is a quote from this article.

I understand that we live in a day when the attack against the family is coming from all sides. Because this fierce war against “the seed of the woman” and “godly offspring” which was announced in Genesis 3:15, we must fight for the biblical family. In my lifetime, we have seen the collapse of the practical implications of the creation order in the home and in the church, and we need to respond. But, we must be clear. While we are fighting for the biblical family, our message in the church is not the family first. Our message needs to be the God and His Word first.

~ Scott T. Brown