Family Life.
The family, God is first and most basic institu¬tion, was written into human nature when he created us male and female (Gen. 1:26-28; 2:18-23). Created in the image of God, husbands and wives are partners with distinctive and supplemental roles to fulfill or functions to perform. Their relations with one another should be such in closeness of bond and degree of trust that they are appropriately compared to the relation of Christ and his church (eph. 5:21-33). There should be a mutuality in their relationship, a mutual respect and sharing with one another, in¬cluding their most intimate relationship—sexual union (1 Cot. 7:1-5). Parents should love (Titus 2:4), teach and train (Deut. 6:4-9; Prov. 22:6), and properly discipline their children (Prov. 29:15, 17), bringing them up “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4, RSV).

In turn, children should respect, honor, and obey their parents (Exod. 20:12; Eph 6:1-2), al¬though there may come a time in the lives of maturing children when they should obey God rather than their parents. Mature children should see that their parents’ needs are properly met (Mark 7:9-13; 1 Tim. 5:3, 8, 16). It is difficult to know the proper interpretation of some scriptures regarding divorce, but it is clear that divorce is out of harmony with the fundamental pur¬pose of God. (The specific references to divorce in the Bible are: Deut. 24:1-4; Lev. 21:7, 14; Ezek. 44:22; Mal. 2:16; Mart. 19:3-12; Mark 10:2-12; Luke 16:18; 1 Cot. 7:10-16). His purpose is for one man and one woman to be joined together as husband and wife for life (Gen. 2:24; Mart. 19:4-5). While God, in Old Testament times, disapproved divorce, yet “because of the hard¬ness” of the hearts of the children of Israel, a law was provided that regulated divorce (Deut. 24:1-4). There was an adjustment of the ideal to the realities of life without losing the vision of the ideal. Divorce, in the contemporary period, may seem at times to be the lesser-of-two-evils but it should not be defended as something good within itself.

Neither should it be treated as the unforgivable sin. Churches should not only minister to the di¬vorced but also provide an effective prevention program by preparing young peo-ple for marriage and by promoting family enrichment opportunities for the married. Sex is a gift of God and is good (Gen. 1:31). However, the only full expression of it that God approves is the sexual union of husband and wife. This means that premarital and extramarital sex, homosexuality, and open or common-law marriages are out of harmony with the purposes of God (Lev. 20:10-16; 1 Cor. 6:9; Gal. 5:19-21). It is God’s purpose to make his people holy, “and that entails.., a clean cut with sexual immorality” (1 Thess. 4:3, Phillips). All basic laws or requirements of God, including those regarding sex, are for our good (Prov. 3:22; Mark 2:27). Churches should seek to minister to those who have turned aside from God’s will in the area of sex, as well as in every other area of life, being thankful for the grace and forgiveness of God. A contemporary issue that requires attention is the place of women both in society and in the churches. Women who need or choose to work outside the home should not be discriminated against while women who prefer nor to work outside the home should be equally respected.

Women should have an effective voice in the program and leadership of churches. The place of women in the structure of the churches, in accordance with Baptist ecclesiology, is decided by each local congregation. There were women in both the Old Testament (Exod. 15:20-21; Judges 4:4) and the New Testament (Acts 18:2, 18, 26; 21:8-9; Rom.. 16:1) who were quite prominent in the work of the Lord. There are some groups, such as single adults— never married, divorced, widowed—and older or senior adults to whom many churches need to give increased attention. Some of these nor only need something done for them, but they need also to be doing something themselves in the work of the churches. Christian family life is characterized by faithful covenant love as revealed in Christ. For Christians, the church family should be an extended family (Mart. 12:48-50) ministering in ways that modern families often can nor, or do not, do.

Readings from Acts and the Letters of Paul tell us of the concern of distant churches for the needy communities in Jerusalem and Macedonia. In faith, the world’s hungry and homeless, the victims of injustice and religious persecution, are not mere issues; they are our sisters and brothers.

Our foreign aid and peacemaking efforts can be reformed and improved, but they cannot be abandoned. Massive cuts in recent years in U.S. assistance for the poor around the world are an evasion of our responsibility as a prosperous nation and world leader. The recent decline in resources for sustainable development must be reversed.

whatever progress in technology and economic life, there can be neither justice nor peace in the world, for they have been created by God and are His children.

Rights and Responsibilities

In a world where some speak mostly of “rights” and others mostly of “responsibilities,” the Christian tradition teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Therefore, every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency: faith and family, food and shelter, health care and housing, education and employment.

Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities—to one another, to our families, and to the larger society. While public debate in our nation is often divided between those who focus on personal responsibility and those who focus on social responsibilities, our tradition insists that both are necessary.

Flowing from our God-given dignity, each person has basic rights and responsibilities. These include: the rights to freedom of conscience and religious liberty, to raise a family, to immigrate, to live free from discrimination, and to have a share of earthly goods sufficient for oneself and one’s family. People have a fundamental right to life and those things that make life truly human: food, clothing, housing, health care, education, security, social services, and employment.