When did you last hear about our obligation to preach the Elijah message? Do we know what the Elijah message is? Do we know that it is a message that should be proclaimed in the last days “ ‘before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD’ ” and that it “ ‘will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers’ ” (Mal. 4:5, 6).1
The Elijah message embraces a twofold revival: a spiritual revival, turning the hearts of God’s children to their heavenly Father, and a family-life revival, turning the hearts of children to their human parents.
Like the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14:6–12, the Elijah message calls God’s children to reject false worship and embrace true worship. The call of Elijah—“ ‘If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him’ ” (1 Kings 18:21)—is a call to reject Baal worship, which, at Elijah’s time, constituted a focused assault on Israel’s spiritual life and calling.
Israel’s King Ahab was married to Jezebel, a Baal worshiper, under whom the prophets of Israel were persecuted and rejected. Elijah emerged to defend the faith of Israel and call God’s children to the worship of the true God of Israel. Elijah had to confront Baal worshipers on two fronts. First, the prophet called for the worship of the true Creator-God, Jehovah. Instead of worshiping Jehovah the Creator, Israel was misled and misdirected to worship Baal, a Canaanite god of storm and thunder, who was the opposite of the personal Creator-Redeemer God of Israel. Second, Baal worship was an assault on Israel’s family life. Baal worship perverted the sanctity of marriage and allowed for child sacrifices (Num. 25:1–3; Jer. 19:5). Elijah’s message was an appeal against these perversions of true religion, a plea for spiritual revival, and a call for family-life renewal.
In our time, we are called to proclaim the Elijah message. How can we extend the boundaries of our mission to families? How can we go beyond the usual church events or occasional family-life activities and enlarge the scope of our family ministry?
A family-life experiment
Here is how we did it in our territory of churches. Our goal was to improve the quality of family life for every church member. Our focus was to empower every family to deal with the everyday issues they face in their homes in biblical and spiritual ways. We chose to use the following program of family-life education.
First, we identified specific family needs, and addressed them one by one. A survey was completed by all the members to identify these needs.2
Second, we created a syllabus to study topics, such as the foundations of marriage, communications, conflict resolution, sexuality, family finances, abuse prevention, singleness, and parenting. For each topic, we developed a PowerPoint presentation, a presenter’s script, a participant’s worksheet, and group activities.
Third, we obtained the support of local pastors. To receive this support, we held regional retreats for pastors and their spouses and walked them through the seminars. Pastors were encouraged to host a Family Life Day at least once a quarter in each church and conduct the presentation during the worship service when all were present, using a seminar format instead of a sermon. Since most of these leaders had multichurch districts, some could reproduce the workshop in their other churches with the help of trained elders and family-life personnel from their congregations.
The results
The benefits were twofold. First, as pastors and their spouses participated in the seminars, their own family lives were impacted. The retreats allowed the clergy couples to take time off from ministering to focus on their own families, enriching their own family life. Second, many church members received a rich blessing from the practical, transformational information they received. As a result, the participating churches experienced family-life revivals.
You may not have the resources to formulate such a comprehensive strategy. But you do have the ability to create your own customized plan of action! You can evaluate the local needs, produce resources, present the materials, and evaluate the results. As a pastor, you are aware that most of the problems your members bring to you are family issues. Some come to us when it is too late and, unfortunately, others do not come at all. If we can empower church members, they will be able to deal with their own challenges as they arise. And instead of waiting for them to come to us, family-life education will allow us to go to them.
The Elijah message: Beyond our walls
As a church, we have a mandate to proclaim the Elijah message not only to the families in our own congregations but also to the families in our communities. It is a message for the world! How do we know that? First of all, we declare that God created two institutions in Eden. On the sixth day, He established the family, and on the seventh day, He instituted the Sabbath. In these last days, the church’s mandate is to be the “Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In” (Isa. 58:12). Thus, we need to be champions not only for the restoration of the Sabbath but also for the restoration of the family! When people come to our evangelistic meetings, they should be challenged to observe the Sabbath and also be inspired to strengthen their family’s lives.
Throughout Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, the family is one of God’s favorite targets to reach. When Abraham was called to sacrifice his son Isaac, and Abraham’s response and Isaac’s obedience were motivated by their faith that “God will provide for Himself the lamb” (Gen. 22:8), was not God teaching us the plan of salvation in a parable of faith and obedience? Three books of the Bible—Hosea, Ruth, and Song of Solomon—teach us that the family is God’s parable. Jeremiah and Ezekiel also picture God as the loving husband and Israel as His wayward wife. Then there are Jesus’ wedding parables and the immortal story of the prodigal son. Finally, the Bible closes with the marriage supper of the Lamb and the picture of the “bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. 19:6–10; Rev. 21:2).
If the family has been God’s effective way to teach truth, should it not be ours also?
Family models
How can we conduct family-life education while we are proclaiming the gospel? Here are three models we have used.
1. The dating model. We begin with a series of family-life seminars in preparation for a regular evangelistic series. The community is invited to seminars on such topics as conflict resolution, abuse prevention, family finances, and parenting. With each event, we are creating relationships and building our list of interests. Finally, these prospects are invited to the evangelistic campaign. The hope is that the earlier “dates” will result in these people becoming part of God’s family.
2. The courtship model. In this strategy, two elements sit side by side. In each evangelistic meeting, there is a family nugget and a Bible presentation. The two may or may not be related conceptually, but they are sitting closely in the same space, looking lovingly at each other. There is the hope that their “courtship” will inspire interested people to become part of God’s family.
3. The marriage model. Here each family issue is married to a conceptually compatible Bible doctrine. Each presentation deals with both family and doctrine, and there is a loving interaction between these two “spouses.” For example, to benefit young people, true love is related to Christ’s love at Calvary. To benefit parents, helping one’s child to obey is related to obedience to our heavenly Father.
Regardless of which model is used, family ministry is done for the community! And everyone can benefit. Whether the attendees are married or not, they can learn how to deal with conflicts, children, and managing money. With these presentations, even if attendees do not accept the Bible’s truths, they have received vital information to improve their homes. And we have lifted the quality of family life in the community.
Why get involved in family outreach?
Why should we invest our time and effort to conduct family-life outreach? It is sound theology! It is one successful model to teach truth! But, more important, this outreach opens the possibility of helping people to find fulfillment in the most meaningful and the most intimate aspect of life: family. Where family life is fulfilling, there is joy in the family, true intimacy between spouses, and full opportunity for all family members to achieve their felt needs. In achieving a fulfilled life as a family, we also exhibit to others the true meaning of Christian discipleship: we are one with each other, and together we are one in Christ. We are working as Christ worked. We are taking the Elijah message to all around us—rejecting all perversions of false religion, affirming spiritual revival, and calling for family renewal.
- Scripture is from the New King James Version.
- This instrument was created and analyzed by Dr. Colwick Wilson, then professor and chair of the Department of Counseling and Family Sciences, Loma Linda University, and Dr. Leon Wilson, then professor and chair of the Department of Sociology, Wayne State University. The data has since been used in various professional conferences, scholarly papers, and PhD dissertations.
