I wanted to briefly touch on the subject of thanksgiving today since I’ll be taking tomorrow through Sunday off.

The history of the holiday aside, I want to focus in on the essential nature of the family to the celebration of thanksgiving.

We live in a society where individualism has won the day. Everything is viewed through the lens of the individual, with liberty and freedom being seen as the greatest, most necessary parts of a functioning society.

Now, like most of you, I am a strong advocate for liberty and freedom. However, as I’ve stated elsewhere, our freedom and liberty ultimately stop where God has drawn the clear, objective boundaries. In other words, God ultimately places the limits on our “freedom” in order that we might flourish and live unto him, rather than unto sin.

One of the ways in which God has chosen to manage the earth is through the family. Fathers are to be providers and protectors; mothers are to be supporters and the primary source of care for the children; and finally, children are to be submissive and honoring of their parents. This is the structure that has built our society up and it is the structure that will continue to produce strong societies. Fathers, like Christ, are to be the federal head of their family—a picture of Christ. In a Christian home, the individual does not have ultimate authority. The authority belongs to the one to whom authority has been granted.

A well ordered household is one in which Fathers rule with love and care, mothers support and serve with respect and compassion, and children obey with fervor and love for their parents. When this is done, there ends up being true equality in the home. Equality does not mean “the same in all respects.” Equality is found in the dignity and worth of persons fulfilling their God given roles well.

What does this have to do with Thanksgiving? Quite a lot actually. Thanksgiving has culturally become a time of gathering together as families. Sadly, however, more common is the notion of individuals gathering with other individuals. Things like “Friendsgiving” and the like have become modes of celebration instead of together as a family. It gets worse. Single mothers without a husband; children without fathers; men without wives; couples living in fornication prior to marriage; the list goes on. These scenarios have become the new face of Thanksgiving.

I say all this simply to challenge you all to take this time seriously as an opportunity to build and foster biblical community with family. Fulfill your duty. If you’re a man, be a man. If you’re a woman, be a woman. If you’re a child, be a child. Live as God has called you.

While you feast in thanksgiving tomorrow, do so with a very conscious desire to honor the order of family that God has created, recognizing that every opportunity to be a family is an opportunity to wage war against that which threatens it.

I’ll talk to you all on Monday! Have a blessed thanksgiving celebration!