“Home” is one of those emotional words. Just to hear it said or see it written brings a flood of images and memories into one’s mind. A person’s experiences will color one’s thoughts in regard to good or bad.  
     
     There is a cluster of words that are connected in relationship: “home,” “family,” “house.” These words are associated, but differ in meaning. When we look in the Bible for a description of what a home is, we see a picture of a family. It is clear that “house” is usually the structure where a family makes its home.

    The Old Testament sets forth a picture of the family structure that today is sometimes described as a nuclear family. The picture there is husband – wife; father, mother, children. 

    One of the clearest pictures of family/home is the teaching of Paul in Ephesians 5:21-6:4. In this passage we have a clear picture of the “nuclear family.” Paul deals with roles and relationships in a family setting that we could describe as dad, mom and the kids.

    The erosion of this family structure in our day is lamented by many voices. Studies, surveys and polls cry out to describe the disaster that has happened in our culture as this Biblical concept of home/family is attacked and weakened. The statistics that compare the difference between children that come from a nuclear family and those who do not are illuminating.

    The way the word “home” is so often used indicates the erosion as much as anything. On every hand, home builders, home sellers, home buyers are in evidence. Actually what these people are doing is building houses, selling houses, buying houses. Houses are not homes until a family lives there and makes their home there.

    This unconscious misuse of the word “home” reveals the current confusion. Biblically, a home is the situation of a family together. The place where they live is not itself the home. The place where they live is where they are in the process of building a home – living, teaching, training, preparing for life.

    Some years ago, a family moved to Lubbock, Texas. The father was serving in the U.S. Air Force and had been reassigned to Reese Air Force Base. The family lived in temporary housing until they could find a house in which to live. They were attending a church in Lubbock.

    One Sunday a Sunday School teacher was introducing a small boy of this family to her class. She said, “This is Johnny. He and his family have moved to Lubbock, but they do not have a home yet.” Johnny replied, “Oh, we have a home. We just don’t have a place to put it!” 

    Truly, a house a home does not make. Making a home is the activity of a family.

--Robert L Gregg