Family Man

“For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” – Genesis 18:19

Can God trust you to instruct your children and your household to follow after Him? Are you the priest of your home? How are you leading your family?

Regardless of how profitable your company is; how much transformation you are contributing in your community or in the world; how much impact you are making in the lives of your employees, customers, and vendors; or how involved you are in your local church; if you are not leading your family in the way of the Lord, God will not be pleased with you.   Your family is your first and most important ministry, and God expects every male Biblical Entrepreneur to be a family man.

A family man is of the male gender and is chosen by God to serve as the priest of his household and to represent Christ’s will in the marketplace. Abraham was a family man. God did not choose him simply because he had a great sheep and cattle company, nor solely because of his devotion to God. God chose him, because He knew that He could trust Abraham to command his children and his household in such a way as to keep the way of the Lord so that God’s purpose would be fulfilled.   Since the vision that God gave Abraham was multi-generational, God knew that if Abraham did not lead his children and household in the ways of the Lord, God’s vision would die with Abraham. Fortunately, Abraham commanded his children and household so well that every one of his descendants referred to God as “the God of Abraham” and often referenced the covenant that God made with Abraham. Does your family know who your God is? Do they know the covenant that God made with you?

With the increase in attacks on marriages and families, there is no greater time for us to emulate Abraham’s role as a family man. As you seek to model Abraham’s position, here are five characteristics to keep in mind:

1. A family man has a personal, intimate relationship with God.
2. A family man models for his family the type of person he wants them to be.
3. A family man is the priest of his home and leads his family in the way of the Lord through prayer, worship, and deeds.
4. A family man inspires his family towards righteousness and justice.
5. A family man communicates to his family God’s covenant vision for the family.

One of the challenges today with many Biblical Entrepreneurs is that they struggle to be family men, either because they were not raised by such men or the demand of building their business results in a struggle with prioritizing their lives.   Regardless of how you were raised or what you have done until now, God can transform you into the first family man within your family. You can start today and begin to experience the personal intimacy that Abraham experienced with God. If the growth of your business hinders you from being a family man, then you are allowing your business to grow off of power and might, rather than by the leading of the Spirit. However, if your priorities are properly aligned, God will take care of those aspects of your life, such as your business, that are important to you. But, if your priorities are not correctly aligned, then it shows that you do not trust God to take care of you and that you are taking matters into your own hands. Being a family man is not necessarily about equally distributing your time and energy throughout your priorities, but it is about living a congruent life, where there is a seamless transition between all your priorities. It’s about building your relationships in such a way so that your impact is not measured by time alone, but by quality and effectiveness.

I was raised by a mother who was a workaholic. She put career ahead of family and did not model a personal relationship with God. My father left her when I was just a baby and was consequently never very involved in my life. Furthermore, I had a step-father who did not treat me like his son. However, at the age of 21, God saved me. At 16, He gave me a woman that I quickly fell in love with and eventually married; and since the start of my walk with Him, He has brought many individuals in my life that encouraged and inspired me to realize my God-given destiny. My wife and I have two beautiful children, and I’m determined to provide them with a model of a godly family man so that they can experience what I was never able. In light of all of this, my hope is that one day they will talk about “the God of Patrice and Gina Tsague” and the covenant God made with us.

Being a family man is not easy; there is a lot of pressure from our modern culture that challenges the headship of the man in the home, man’s sexuality, how we define success, whether God and the Bible are still relevant, and how we raise our children. However, with God all things are possible. If you cultivate contentment in your personal life and define success not by what you have and by what others think of you, but instead by your relationship with God and your family, you will become a family man.=

God had much to say to Timothy through the Apostle Paul about the importance of being a family man and specifically how men are to behave to qualify as church leaders. Though roles have changed since Paul and Timothy’s time, you too are a marketplace minister and a church leader whether you are in a leadership position at your local church or not. You are a leader over a flock that God has given you–your business, including your employees and customers.

“Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.  He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. If one does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church [or God’s business?]” – I Timothy 3:1-5 (NIV)

My prayer for you today is that God will give you the grace to be the family man He called you to be so that He may impress upon your family the same lessons and wisdom that He has taught to you.