THE FAMILY ALTAR
Editorial
October, 1974
Volume 9, Number 4
Do you have a family altar? By a "family altar" we mean
an established, regular, set-apart time when the family gathers together
for worship in the home. The family worship period includes Bible reading
and prayer. It may also include singing, the memorization of Scripture,
and a systematic study of the Bible. All that is done should be done on
a level that will involve and benefit the whole family. Family worship
should be a daily occurrence.
With the gradual increase in the number of broken homes
in the church and among church leaders, we wonder if the family altar needs
some repair. One aged minister in our denomination has repeatedly declared
that he has yet to find a separated family that during the years was careful
to practice regular times of family worship. We wonder if it is even right
to call our families "Christian" -if our homes are not graced with this
daily devotion.
With the "run-around" ways of the average family today,
many say there is no time for family worship. This argument reminds us
of the family who felt they didn't have time for prayer before meals. But
a concern about omitting prayer became so strong that they decided to take
time for prayer; and then if time did not permit, they would skip eating
instead. You know, they soon discovered that whenever they prayed first,
there was always time for eating too! If you don't have time for the family
altar, take time!
I grew up on a farm where itinerant men were frequent
day laborers. We always had family worship before breakfast, and it often
included those who were there to work for the day. It was common talk among
those men that they had to first go to "Sunday School" before they could
get breakfast. Their expression may not really have been misplaced; after
all, the family unit is a little church congregation. What kind of small
family congregation do you have - if there are never any meetings?
--J.F.M.
The Family Altar
by Kenneth H. Hershey
The best of spiritual judgment tells us that every home should establish
a family altar. This refers not to non-Christian homes. Such homes need
Christ first before they can worship together. However, the family altar
is a necessity in the Christian home. Would you say that worshiping together
is your family's most important function - the most needed get-together?
Is there anything more vital, moire everlastingly important than daily
worshiping together as a family unit?
Families plan many things they would like to do together. Many of those
plans never materialize, and if a planned trip to the mountains, or to
the East Coast, or to Florida, or to the moon - if such plans never become
a reality - it may not affect your family very much. But if your plan to
establish a family altar never materializes (if that never happens), it
will affect your family much more.
Many families raise an altar of neglect when it comes to worshiping
God together in the home. The writer of Hebrews raises a serious question:
"How shall we escape if we neglect...?" (Hebrews 2:3). Neglect what? Neglect
to nurture our salvation. Neglect is a most grievous sin. It is so grievous
that the Apostle Paul makes a most serious application in 1 Timothy 5:8:
"But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own
house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." If to raise
an altar of neglect in the area of material things is so grievous, how
profoundly grievous must it be to raise an altar of neglect against God
and spiritual things!
Private devotions by any member of the family is commendable, but it
will never produce the benefits and fill the need that is realized when
the family worships together. The family altar must first be established
in the hearts of the parents, for they provide the leadership needed in
this manor project and adventure in the life of a family. This is a major
project because the most important church is the church in your house!
The family that worships together at home will have little difficulty gathering
together to worship with other families, known as "going to church." The
home and church are dependent on each other, but worship begins at home.
The family altar may not guarantee a problem-free existence, but it
will guarantee a place of refuge and a place for the sharing of family
problems. Children will hear their names mentioned with the concern laid
at the feet of the Heavenly Father, and parents will hear their children
pray for them in a way that no one else can do. Thus the family altar is
very much needed. A number of values grow out of the practice of family
worship.
1. Family worship is a means by which the Word of God can be exalted
in the home. The Bible should be exalted because it was given by the
breath of God: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be throughly furnished unto all good works" (2
Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible should be exalted because It was written for
our instruction: "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written
for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures
might have hone" (Romans 15:4). The Bible should be exalted because it
is an unerring guide: "For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is a
light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life" (Proverbs 6:23).
2. Family worship is a means by which the complete family can pray
together. The family altar may at times fall into the category of praying
about problems and matters the family would not pray about in the presence
of others. It is like closing the doors about the family unit and having
a sweet fellowship with God. It is the type of praying mentioned in Matthew
6:6 - the closet type of praying where only God's ears are welcome as the
family prays for an answer to particular problems. On the other hand, while
the family altar is pretty much the private prayer life of the combined
family, there is no need to shy away from the practice when visitors arrive.
Daniel knew someone was watching and he "prayed, and gave thanks before
his God, as he did before" (Daniel 6:10). I remember one time, as our family
was kneeling in the living room praying, a neighbor boy who had come on
the porch, noticed, and knelt on the porch until we were through.
3. Diligently practicing the family altar will set an example for
others. Paul wrote, "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known
and read of all men" (2 Corinthians 3:2). Or, as Jesus said, "Let your
light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify
your Father which is in heaven." We should let others know that we have
a new life. Paul declares, "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism
into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory
of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." The family
worship time can be a means of letting our light shine, and our engaging
in the practice may serve as an incentive for others to try the same good
habit.
4. The family altar is a means by which children can be taught their
duty to God. Children should be taught to. remember God in their youth:
"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth..." (Ecciesiastes 12:1).
Children should he taught to fear God: "My son, fear thou the Lord..."
(Proverbs 24:21). Children should be taught to obey God: "and (thou) shalt
return unto the lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all
that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart"
(Deuteronomy 30:2).
5. The family altar is a means by which children can be taught their
duty to parents. Children should be taught to honor their parents:
"Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee" (Exodus 20:12'). Paul states, "Children
obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and
mother, which is the first commandment with promise" (Ephesians 6:1-2).
Children should be taught responsibility to parents: "But if any widow
have children or nephews, let them Iearn first to show piety at home, and
to requite (repay) their parents, for this is good and acceptable before
God" (1 Timothy 514).
6. The family altar is a means by which children can be won to Christ.
Children should be instructed in the ways of the Lord: "Gather the people
together, men, and women, and children, and the stranger that is within
thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord
your God, and observe to do all the words of this law" (Deuteronomy 31:12).
Children should be taught the way of salvation: "For by grace are ye saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God" (Ephesians
2:8). Through the family altar, children can be presented to Christ: "Suffer
little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the
kingdom of God. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them,
and blessed them" (Mark 10:14-16).
7. The family altar is a means by which Christians can grow in grace:
"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). Christians should seek to be strong in grace: "Thou
therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy
2:1). The daily reading of the Scriptures (God speaking to us), and the
daily practice of prayer (our speaking to God), tends to strengthen our
inner spiritual lives.
It is evident that American families stopped praying at home before
the privilege of praying in schools was taken away. Many people make a
great ado about their children not hearing Bible reading and prayers in
school, but I seriously wonder if those same children hear it at home.
I too wish for the return of unrestricted prayers and Bible reading in
the schools. Nevertheless, the schools are not responsible for Christian
education. This responsibility rests upon the church, and the church consists
of families, who hopefully, are seven-day-a-week Christians established
around family altars, where God is worshiped daily.
The cure for juvenile delinquency must begin before children are born.
It must begin in the hearts of young people who walk away from the marriage
altar to establish a family altar. The family altar will be a place where
they will meet daily to quiet their hearts and strengthen their purposes
to live out the covenant they made with God when they became Christians,
as well as when they became husband and wife. When family worship is a
daily practice, the dedication of one's children will not be a mockery
or a mere formality, but it will be the dedication of their own lives passed
on to their offspring as a heart to heart and soul to soul experience.
The family altar may not cure all the ills, but it will bring faith
and trust and comfort salvation: "For by grace are ye saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). Through
the family altar, children can be presented to Christ: "Suffer little children
to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God.
And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them"
(Mark 10:14-16). There is no substitute for a family's gathering
together and worshiping God within the doors of the home. I recommend it
highly. The family that prays together stays together.