New Reminders: Family

The American concept of family has changed across the decades.  In the 1920s, large farm families were common.  Seven to ten children were not unusual. City families also tended to be quite large.  The more children a family had, the more help was available during busy times.  Some of the children were expected to stay home to help with the family enterprises.  The children got a hands-on education by actually applying what was needed to perform the tasks involved.  Religious leaders were preaching about the Biblical edict to “Go forth and multiply.” Population growth was considered a positive thing.

In the forties and fifties, following two world wars, and the advent of the industrial revolution, families were generally smaller.  Four to six-child families were fairly common.   In the sixties and seventies, the awareness of over-population threats suggested that the four-person family was ideal.  As more women entered the work force, in the seventies and eighties, and more reliable birth control (including “the pill”) became available, more couples chose to have only one child or no children at all.  In the nineties to the present, the whole definition of what makes a family has changed.  Same-sex couples, single-parents and inner-generational families are common.  Other types of living arrangements are considered family living.  Small congregations call themselves “church families”.  In response to the reality that young people move farther from their families of origin for work, some businesses have tried to foster a more-family-like atmosphere at work.

Even the family of God changed from the Old Testament to the New.  God, the Father was (and still is) the central figure in the Jewish tradition and the Jewish people, “The Chosen Ones” live under God’s laws.  Through some reform movements, some of the old ways have changed somewhat for some Jews, but some sects still try to observe the old traditions and are still waiting for their Messiah to come.

In the New Testament, as practiced by most Christian denominations, the central belief is that God sent his only Son, Jesus as a sacrifice to pay for the sins of anyone who believes, be they Gentiles or Jews, or any one of the many denominations and off shoots that have developed various versions of how they practice specific dogmas and worship styles.  God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit remain the same, but people have corrupted the word of God to suit their own tastes, and some have strayed from the truth.  Fewer people are joining churches.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2