Not all the New Testament is about the supra-household relationships within the kingdom of God. There is much space given to the way Christian households should operate. A Christian household, by definition, would be a household where the head of the household was a Christian. This did not necessarily mean that all other members needed to be Christians. Paul outlined the kind of relationships which should characterise a Christian family (Ephesians 5:21-6:9). We make a mistake, I believe, in assuming that this key passage assumes all members of the household are of the faith. Indeed, I suspect that we would get the best out of this passage by making the assumption that only the head of the household is a believer. By the time this letter was written, most households were still ‘mixed’ because the Christian community was still too small and dispersed to allow very many Christian men to find Christian women in order to set up ‘Christian marriages’.
How, then, should a Christian head of a household manage his household relationships when none of the others is a believer? This is, I believe, one of the key questions lying behind this passage. As a Christian husband, he must commit himself wholeheartedly to his wife as Christ committed himself wholehearted to those for whom he died. Just as Christ died ‘for the ungodly’ (Romans 5:6) so the husband must love his wife sacrificially, whether she is a believer or not. She, in turn, is to respect him as her head and she is to reverence Christ as the ultimate head of the household, even though she may owe allegiance to another god. The father of the children, as household head, must put the needs of the children first, not his own honour. The children, whether they are Christians or not, are to obey both their parents, not just their father. This is a departure from the pagan household code.
If there are slaves, whether believers or not, the head is not being asked to manumit them, but he is being asked to treat them as the head of his surrogate household of God treats him: that is, he is being asked to treat his slaves as though they were free members of his household.
In applying such passages to mixed households as well as to completely Christian ones, I believe we can see deeper into the changes that would have been made in actual social relationships. Once again, conflicts between loyalty to one’s social household and ultimate loyalty to the surrogate household of God are certain to arise and, in every case, the surrogate household of God must take priority.
Next and Last – Conclusion
Previous – Being Committed To The Surrogate Household Of God
Jesus and the Surrogate Family of God – Indexes
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7/8
This page is an extract from Jesus and the Surrogate Family of God, Paper S89 delivered to the Zadok Institute for Christianity and Society, Winter 1997 by Ross Saunders. Used with permission.
Ross was an Anglican Minister and having studied cultural anthropology, he interpreted the parables and sayings of the Lord Jesus from the viewpoint of those who heard him in first century Israel.
Ross published two books through Acorn Press:
Outrageous Women Outrageous God is a study of women in the first two generations of Christianity,
From Head to Toe is a study of men and their roles in the first two generations of Christianity.
For more details, please click here Lambros Books.
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Jesus the Messiah: Son of God and Son of Man
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The Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
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God’s Plan of Redemption
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The Holy Spirit and the Person of the Lord Jesus
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Jesus: Teller of Tall Tales and Home Truths
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John 20:31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture verses are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, Thompson Chain Reference Anglicised Edition, published by Hodder & Stoughton Limited, ©1984.
Jesus: Messiah, Redeemer and Healer 