The Elijah Message and the Home
To preach the Elijah message we must do more than denounce apostasy and unmask the man of sin. We must elevate the standard of the home. This is not always easy. It takes less grace to correct one's understanding of history than it does to correct the habits of the home. But the Adventist evangelist is charged with the responsibility of building up the home.
Thrust right into the heart of Malachi's prophecy is the promise that homes will be restored. The hearts of the fathers will be turned to the children and the hearts of children to the fathers. Home relationships are woven right into the Elijah message.
Nothing is so vital to the church as the homes of her members. And no greater opportunity is presented to the minister than to proclaim the sanctity of the home. The war has played havoc with homes. Tragedy is everywhere. Broken homes must be rebuilt. Only as homes are rebuilt can nations be rebuilt, for the nation is made up of its homes.
Homes are the cement of national and moral life, "the nonstop assembly line of character." But home building is an art. Dare we say a lost art? Edgar Guest surely stated a truth when he wrote those familiar words, "It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t' make it home." To millions, home is only a filling station by day and a parking lot at night. People are so busy making a living that they do not have time to make a life. No wonder divorce records are rising so rapidly.
War has put a terrible strain on the home. It always does. But many who have been prepared to die for home and loved ones may soon be discovering that it is easier to die for them than to live with them. It is to such as these that we as ministers are sent. And our presentation of the message must be in a way that will turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the hearts of children to their parents.
The home, and especially the Adventist home, ought to be a place where love and respect, prayer and mutual understanding, combine to make it a little sanctuary in which friends, neighbors, and even enemies can find the peace of God. Would that this were always the case. No preacher's home, no church elder's home, should be a dictatorship. Peace fled when the dictators arose, determined to dominate. Love and mutualism are the foundations of peace. And our homes must be examples to the community.
When someone remarked that the nations shall get along like one big family, a humorist said, "The trouble is they do," and then added, "There is no place like home." That wall plaque which reads, "Home—the place where we grumble the most and are treated the best," contains too much truth. If our homes are' like that, then we need the Elijah message ourselves.
To proclaim doctrines and unfold prophecies, while by-passing the very principles of Christian living, is not fully proclaiming the mess
"When preaching on prophecies, crowd in lesson practical godliness," is the counsel of the Spirit of prophecy. We must not fail to bring a challenge to parents and children alike to rebuild homes that will rightly reflect the glory of the advent message. If we want stronger churches we must have more Christlike homes.
In the crisis on Carmel the prophet had to rebuild the altar of the Lord before he could bring the nation back to God. We need the spirit and power of Elijah in our ministry, to lead our converts to rebuild family altars and daily lead their households in prayer and praise.
No evangelist's work is done, howsoever many meetings he may have conducted, until those he leads through the waters of baptism have brought their homes into the harmony of heaven. As evangelists and pastors we must go to the homes of our new converts, and even older members, and by love and kindness teach them how to conduct family worship, showing parents how to encourage the children to take part. There is no greater work than leading families into fellowship with God and with one another.
R. A. A.