Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76Plough Quarterly • Winter 2015 41 Jesus asks us to imagine a different social order, an all-encompassing community based not on natural ties but on discipleship. Jesus came to establish the new family of God, a family of dis- ciples who follow him with the entirety of their lives (Matt. 10:34–37). Rodney Clapp, in his book Families at the Crossroads (Intervarsity, 1993), notes how Jesus stretches the family beyond its natural state because his new social order transcends the old boundaries in which people love only their own. In Clapp’s words, “It is through a new family, born again of the Spirit, that God’s kingdom breaks into our world.” Jesus exalts children because they – not the powerful and the successful – teach us how to become part of this new family. While the dis- ciples argue over who will be the greatest in the kingdom, Jesus places a small child before them as an answer (Mark 9:34–37). Children are dependent and relatively powerless; they teach us to become small so that God’s kingdom may become great. When this happens, a new set of relationships is born of his Spirit under his cross. It is the church, God’s first family, a life of shared sacrifice and community in which family ties are loosed for God to weave together, from many different strands, a new fabric. Only when we become like children and recognize our utter dependence upon God, and only when we put our natural families second, can this kind of society – the church – exist. In Jesus’ new family, things are turned upside down: the first are last, and the least are the greatest. Things aren’t “natural.” People are more valued than possessions, and love for our bio- logical kindred gives way to serving everyone around us, even those most unlike us. Like chil- dren who pay little attention to race or social status, we enter a radically new way of relating to one another. Paradoxically, within this new and greater family the natural family of parents and children is honored and can even be strength- ened. When the first Christians spread the good news across the Mediterranean world, their witness contrasted sharply with the pro- miscuity and decadence of Roman society. Widows and orphans were cared for, and no one was in need, for entire congregations shared everything they had. Husbands learned self-discipline and self-sacrifice, and women were honored as co-equal heirs of salvation. The result was that the natural family was restored to what God originally intended. Today there are countless problems under- mining families, from divorce and poverty to pornography and drugs. But these problems are only symptoms of what ails us: the absence of community centered on God. The hyper- individualistic worldview that is the hallmark of our age is a threat to the family and to chil- dren far more insidious than underfunded schools or immoral lifestyles. This false creed tries to shove God out of the public realm and confine him to private spirituality. It prom- ises that maximizing personal autonomy will bring happiness. Now that the infection runs so deep, it’s no wonder that many families are in trouble. Jesus calls us to pursue not only the good of those nearest and dearest to us, but to seek first the kingdom of God and his justice. He adds: “And then all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:33). We must put Christ and his church first. Only then will our marriages and our families be able to withstand the forces that threaten them. And more importantly, only then will we be able to advance the gospel of the kingdom in this fragmented world.  Charles E. Moore is the editor of Everyone Belongs to God: Discovering the Hidden Christ, a collec- tion of Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt’s writings on mission to be published by Plough in spring 2015.