“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone…” Eph. 2:19-20
Scripture provides many analogies to help us understand the nature of a church. What is a church, you ask? The church is an assembly (Heb. 12:23). The church is a temple (Eph. 2:21). The church is a body (1 Cor. 12:27; Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 6:15; 1 Cor. 10:17; Eph. 1:23). The church is the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:25-28). The church is the household of God (Eph. 2:19). These images and others God uses to teach us about what the church is, and how those who are part of the church ought to behave. In this post, I’ll focus on the last image, the household of God.
First, what is a household? To put it simply, a household is a family. In every natural household, there is a father, mother, and in the ordinary course, children. Every household has certain rules. Some of them are universal: do not steal; do not murder; do not lie or cheat; do not worship other gods. Some rules are particular to one household or other: do not wear your outside shoes in the house; do not get out of bed until 8:00am on Saturday mornings; do not eat ice cream on the furniture; you must be at the table to eat at 5:30pm.
Every healthy household gathers around a table regularly to share the same food. Every household has an economy: in one way or another, the household produces valuable goods or services in exchange for currency, and everyone has their role in maintaining the house in good order. The father has a role fit for him. The mother has a role fit for her. The children have a role fit for them. Each day, it is up to the head of the household to ensure everything is as it should be, and if not, to lead the household to make the necessary changes. Every day, children receive instruction and correction to ensure they behave in a way that will benefit the whole household, rather than harm it.
Every household has a chain of command, an authority structure, and a way to enforce rules in order to maintain peace in the house. Every lawful household is formed based on a covenant—mutual vows made in the presence of many witnesses (ie. marriage). A household bears with one another, and strives for peace, if possible (though even in a natural family, in some cases it is necessary to exclude a member, at least temporarily, for behavior that poses a legitimate, imminent threat to their own health or the health of the members of the household [ie. drug abuse, violence, etc.]).
When Scripture calls the church a household, it means something like what I just described. In my next post, I'll talk about what this means for the church and order in the church.