A Dad’s Faith, His Family’s Joy

He brought them into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had come to believe in God with his entire household. Acts 16:34

Teaching a large Sunday school class for many years had made me somewhat visible in a town the size of Nashville. Usually I didn’t mind this, except for when people hadn’t been to my class or to church in a while. As they stammered their excuses, I felt like a policeman with a radar gun, enduring the guilty and chagrined glances of passersby. And I didn’t like it.

One such meeting was at the concession window during a concert intermission when I met a couple my wife and I had gotten to know at church. Steve and Amy were lovely people, highly successful in business and living in a beautiful home with their two children. I hadn’t seen them in class for a long time. But unlike the faltering folks I had seen elsewhere, Steve and Amy spoke with boldness and confidence. “We haven’t been to Sunday school or church for several months,” Amy said after greeting me. “And we probably will never come back.”

I knew that if I acted shocked or disappointed, they’d get defensive, so I tried to act as though this wasn’t a big deal. “That’s interesting,” I finally said in the same tone of voice I would have used if they had told me that they had just painted the shutters on their home. “Why have you decided to stop coming?”

“We’re tired of being told we’re sinners,” Steve said. “We don’t need that negative stuff in our lives. And we certainly don’t want our children to be exposed to this sort of pessimistic input.”

“I’m sorry” was all I could get out before the lights flickered and we said our goodbyes and returned to our seats for the second half.

The story of the Philippian jailer is one of the most remarkable stories about a father in the entire Bible. Here was a man faced with the trauma of failure on the job. Jailers were not only fired when their prisoners escaped; they often lost their lives as well. Following a midnight earthquake that turned the prison into shambles, like strewn Legos on the family room floor, and the jailer was preparing to take his own life. Paul and Silas, who had spent the night singing and had not, in fact, fled the prison stopped him. “Don’t harm yourself,” Paul shouted at the jailer who was about to impale himself on his sword, “because we’re all here!” (v. 28). Completely overwhelmed by their faithfulness and mercy, the jailer was suddenly stricken by his own faithlessness and sin. He fell to his knees before his gracious captives. “Sirs,” he cried, “what must I do to be saved?” (v. 30).

What happened over the next few hours was extraordinary. Not only was the jailer brought into a relationship with God, but he also invited Paul and Silas to his home where they shared the same message of forgiveness and grace. As a result, the jailer “rejoiced because he had come to believe in God with his entire household” (v. 34).

We were saddened that our friends had decided not to recognize their sinfulness and their need for a Savior. We were sorry that we would not see them again at church. But mostly, we were disconsolate that the joy that only comes with the experience of God’s mercy resulting from genuine confession and repentance would never grace their home.

Confess your sinfulness, enjoy His grace, and then let your experience with Christ infect your family. Let it bring joy to your home.