The Most Significant Thing About A Christian Home is Not That It is Clean

There are families that I look up to. The way they manage their home, and their children is admirable and worthy of exemplifying. Things just work for them. The wife is able to do everything she needs to do and the husband does the same. The house is always tidy, vacuumed and dusted. It is quiet, peaceful and...Christian.

At least this is what the homes look like while we are there. Most of us get our lives and homes together before company arrives only to let everything "fall back into place" after they leave. Therefore, setting our expectations this high is nothing short of unreasonable and even burdensome.

I am coming to find that the last word that should be used to describe a Christian and his/her home is "tidy." Not that tidy is bad, but it should be preceded by a number of other, more significant, adjectives.

Most of us live in homes that fall well short of biblical norms and cultural expectations. And many of us try so hard striving to reach those norms and expectations that we live with the constant cloud of condemnation over our heads. I know I can fall into the trap of trying to get my home to look like what I'd like my life to look like - clean, controlled, sinless, without chaos, and perfect.

During these times a few comments by Jay Adams in his book Christian Living in the Home, are particularly helpful. He writes, "The first and most important fact to remember about a truly Christian home is that sinners live there. The notion that the Christian home is a perfect or near perfect place is decidedly not biblical...A truly Christian home is a place where sinners live; but it is also a place where the members of that home admit the fact and understand the problem, know what to do about it, and as a result grow by grace."

This helps me cope with the imperfections that I see in my home. This also helps me to notice my family when I come home from work, rather than immediately notice what may need to be picked up. The standard for my home, in one very significant sense, has been met in Christ. In him we can rest. In him we are clean, peaceful, and Christian.

Yes, if you come to my home, chances are you will see some sin. But we must be thankful that, unlike all others, Christ doesn't shy away from sin. In the midst of the Christian home is Christ, who saves the sinners who live there.