Many today see the vital importance of the home, and this is good. Some are schooling their children at home with great success. But some have gone on to feel that the home displaces the local assembly. As the head of the home the father is commanded to teach his children. “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deut. 6:7, nkjv). Thus it is said there is no need for the church; the home is adequate for all spiritual needs. The home then becomes a citadel, a sanctuary, a refuge, into which we may escape.
There is an element of truth here. Home schooling can be a great blessing and can draw the family together. The father should take leadership and teach his family the Word. Home schooling can be good but not all feel they can or should do this. Some may choose to send their children to a Christian school or to be a witness in the public school system and we must be careful about being judgmental in this area.
There are dangers if you neglect the local church. There is the possibility of the father taking on an extreme, authoritarian role. He can rule like a dictator in the confines of his own home and that can be attractive to the male ego. The family is also cut off from the nourishing life of the assembly, the love and encouragement we all need. The teaching of one man also can become unbalanced and extreme, even heretical. There is no accountability to other believers. There are no other men who will check and correct you if needed.
The apostles preached the gospel and established churches wherever they went. Elders were appointed (Acts 14:23) and commanded to shepherd the flock of God. “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). The elders take ultimate responsibility for the flock, the local church. And fathers are to submit to their authority (Heb. 13:17). Plural leadership of the assembly was the rule.
The church provides for the exercise of various gifts, all contributing to the health and growth of the fellowship (Rom. 12:3-8). A family does not have the rich resource of gift that a local church has. The church is a place where all may develop their gifts and grow, providing the fellowship and love that we all need. A wife needs the friendship and understanding of other women, the advice of older, godly women. This her husband cannot provide. He needs other men with whom he can talk and discuss problems. This his wife cannot supply. The children need to interact with other children and form friendships which may last a lifetime. And there are times when we may need, not only instruction, but also discipline by the body. There is also a richness to corporate worship which the home is unable to supply, as various brothers pour out their hearts in praise and adoration.
We are told that the local assembly is a “temple of God” and that we are to be builders in it (1 Cor. 3:11-17). Paul emphasizes the importance of the local church and our own responsibility to contribute to its success. Since it is God’s temple, instructions are given as to how it should function (1 Tim. 3:15) and it is described as “the pillar and ground of the truth.” Paul exalts the importance of the local church.
Since the local church is so important, we are exhorted, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the Day approaching” (Heb. 10:25).
Do not belittle the importance of the assembly.
Written by Donald Norbie