Saturday, April 21, 2018

Home - Discipline - and the Church


The Moravians of old did not recognize a dividing life between secular and sacred. The two were woven together into a coherent whole - a theocracy. 

This conditioned how the home was viewed. In short, the home must function as a small church. Given that outlook the tasks of the home were no more or less important than were the prayers. 

The Moravian's expected that the homes of the members would be faithful to strict standards of conduct. 

It is true that a household, or an individual thereof, would stumble. In the midst of such "stumbling" by the children the church held the parents accountable. 

There is an interesting example of accountability I would like to share. It involves the Frey family of Friedberg, N.C.  Heinrich, the son of the family, confessed to his pastor that he, Heinrich, was making no progress in the faith. Brother Soelle, the pastor, admonished Heinrich but he saved his most pointed criticism for the parents. Brother Soelle recorded in his diary: "I believe that were the parents more on fire with the love for Jesus the children would gain some profit there by and be won." April 20, 1771

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