3 Ways to Destroy your Home
Step 1: Grow your Family on your Own
We live in a culture of self-sufficiency. Asking for help is viewed as being needy. Having needs you can’t meet on your own is viewed as weakness. And so we bring this cultural aspect into our homes and try to grow our family on our own, apart from Christian community and apart from Christ.
It reminds me of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. This is a story of man feeling sufficient apart from God. They have everything they need. They have the numbers, they all speak the same language, so they have the communication. They have the resources (brick & mortar). They are unified & powerful. There is seemingly nothing they cannot do, so they say, “LET US BUILD OURSELVES….”
They are the builders. They are the audience. They are the ones doing it, and they are the ones they’re doing it for. It is all about them.
Why did Jesus say it’s hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Why does it seem there are revivals breaking out in poorer nations and yet here in the US, we have, more and more, adopted an atheistic worldview? Why is it that many of us only stop to pray when we hit rock bottom? Is it because we believe we have all we need in order to grow our families, our lives, our homes, our businesses, on our own? We are the ones building it and we are the ones we’re building it for. It is all about us.
Could it be that the more you have the harder it is to depend upon God? Could it be that the more you have the harder it is to see your needs? Could it be that the more comfortable you are the less likely you are to believe you need the comfort of God?
Does a rich man need the riches of God’s glory in Romans 9:23?
Does a man blessed by the world need the spiritual blessings of Ephesians 1?
Does a prideful man unaware of his sin need the forgiveness of Jesus in 1 John 1:9?
Does a nation with resources, power, and unity need God at all?
If you want to destroy your home, then grow your family without God. Do it on your own, by yourself, and for yourself.
Step 2: Allow Family Reputation to Drive all Decisions
When building the Tower of Babel, the people say, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves…”
“LET US MAKE A NAME FOR OURSELVES.”
This is their goal, their heart’s desire, namely, to exalt their own name, to establish a reputation for themselves. If you want to destroy your home, then allow family reputation to drive all decisions. Care more about what people think than what God thinks. Please man rather than God. Fear man instead of God. Instead of obeying what the Lord has clearly called you to do, keep up with the family across the street.
Step 3: Value Security Above all else
The people build the city & tower in Genesis 11, lest they be dispersed over the face of the earth. Remember when God punished Cain for murdering his brother, Abel? God made Cain a fugitive who would wander the earth. But Cain objected, saying, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold…I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
The idea of moving to an unknown place struck fear to the heart of this coldblooded murderer. Even though the command to multiply and fill the earth was clear, filling the earth meant going to unknown places.
Obedience meant sacrificing security.
In Genesis 11, we see the same fear. They want to build a great city and a great tower lest they be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. Their goal is security. They value security and safety more than obedience to God. How many of us value security above all else?
Security and safety are not, necessarily, bad things, but when they trump God’s commands, they reveal our sin. When God calls us to the unknown, when His calling requires sacrificing the safe and familiar, do we still obey? Or, do we value security above obedience?
What if God called you to move to a dangerous nation? What if God called you to witness even though it might mean your job or feeling uncomfortable? What if the Lord called you to change professions and make less money? What if He asked you to trust Him with your marriage? What if He commanded you to tithe 10% of your income to the church? 20%? What if He called you to place your children in His hands and let Him determine their future?
If you want to destroy your home, value security above all else. Filter God’s Words through your thoughts of safety and security. Measure your obedience by the lengths to which you are willing to stray from the comfortable and familiar. Build your home without God, solidify a name for yourself, and then protect in all with walls so strong that not even God’s words can penetrate. That’s how you destroy your home.
Jonathan Williams is the founder of Gospel Family Ministries and the Senior Pastor of Wilcrest Baptist Church, a multi-ethnic church of 44 nations located in Houston, TX.
