“The church in your house” (Philemon 2)

There’s a church in your house. You could live in a tent, a basement, or even a prison. A prison was the Apostle Paul’s “house” when He wrote this letter to Philemon about his runaway slave Onesimus.

He wrote, “I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains … I am sending him back … that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave - a beloved brother” (Philemon 10–16). Paul “begot” a brother in his house.

In your house, is your primary purpose to “beget” brothers and sisters? God has entrusted to you a group of people over which you have influence. Are the people in your house saved, or are they “lovers of themselves … lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:2–5)? If they’re mostly hypocrites, aren’t you, at least partially, to blame?

Family worship in a home should actually be more devout than that at a church, because you can have daily devotions, and maintain constant standards of behavior, such as restricting access to media and the internet.

According to statistics, most ministers use online pornography…surely you, as the head of your home, can do better than those hirelings!

You can do things with your family every day that pastors would love to do with their congregations, if they had time. Love comes easily to an intimate group who meet every day for meals and devotions. But you must establish the rules of the house and stick to them. It takes six weeks to develop a habit…you must develop GOOD habits for the people in your house.  

“Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine … fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:2–5).

For more on developing good habits, click here.

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