The Power of Family

The foundation of a prosperous and healthy society is prosperous and healthy families. As the families of a society begin to breakdown, and fathers are estranged from their children the society begins to breakdown.

We can see this clearly in our society. Research has shown that the number one indicator for a young person being involved in any kind of destructive behavior is the presence of a father in the household. This includes involvement in crime, gangs, drugs, violence, sexual activity, incarceration, suicide, and others. Also, their self-esteem, educational development, psychological development, and emotional state are all negatively affected.[1] If fact, nearly every (if not every) ill in society can be traced back to the breakdown of the family.

We look to different solutions to try and fix the problems around us – politics, government, social institutions – but the answer to nearly every problem can be found in healthy families.

Why? Simply, this is how God designed it.

When God decided to create humanity, what was his plan for those humans to be developed? Did he choose to have us grown in farms and harvested, or put together in factories and trained in institutions? 

No, he chose to have one man and one woman create a new life, and together have them raise that person until adulthood. He chose family to be the matrix in which humans are developed.

This seems like an obvious observation, but consider that God could have chosen any method He could imagine for developing people. Some may even argue that there could have been better more efficient methods, and some have even tried. It is interesting to note that one common tactic of tyrants to control society is to separate children from parents and have the children trained in government run institutions (if you were just curiously reminded of our public school system, I don’t blame you). 

God’s design is for family to be the center of humanity and the foundation of society.

Throughout the Bible we can see the importance of family in His plans. First, God reveals Himself as a father. Then God chose to populate the earth through a family – Adam and Eve. When the world was judged and flooded, He gave a promise to repopulate the earth through Noah’s family. When God desired to create a distinct people for Himself, He gave the promise to Abraham’s and his family. It was through David’s family line that the promised Messiah would come. When God executed His plan to save humanity, He did not call us to join an institution or become a member in a club, He invited us to become a part of His family.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name,

John 1:12

See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.

1 John 3:1–2

The most fundamental need of a person is for family.

It is where we are developed, where we learn values and truth, where we gain our identity and proficiency. It is where the fundamental questions of our lives are answered.

When young people are deprived of family great breakdown occurs.

This is the state we find many of the young people we reach out to through our teen centers. They live in situations of great breakdown. Most of the time the father is not present, or even involved in any way in the life of the young person. The mother often has severe problems of her own, or is so busy trying to make ends meet that they are not home. The extended families are broken, and the student may not have any positive meaningful relationships with adults. They are hurting and desperate for family. 

In order to reach these young people we must give them what they are most lacking. We must give them the love and support of family. Before they will listen to us, trust us, or receive anything else we try to give them, we must first meet this most fundamental need.

This is the primary role that these teen centers play in the lives of the students who attend, and it is in this area where the teen centers excel compared to traditional youth group settings. It is very difficult to build these deep meaningful relationships in a structured, scheduled program setting, but in the casual environment of the teen centers, we are provided the opportunity to slowly get to know students over long periods of time and to build strong bonds of trust and respect.

The most common word kids use to describe these centers in FAMILY.

When we build these kinds of deep meaningful relationships with students, we give them what is most lacking in their lives. We give them hope, purpose, identity, and direction. We become a living embodiment of the gospel to them and an example of what the father love of God is like.

Endnote: If you would like to learn more about this kind of ministry, or read stories of students whose lives have been transformed, check out the books Kids Like Us, or Joshua Principle. Links can be found on our resource page.

[1] East, Leah, Debra Jackson, and Louise O'Brien. “Father Absence and Adolescent Development: A Review of the Literature.” Journal of Child Health Care 10, no. 4 (2006): 283–295.