Rev. Chris Surber

In the 1998 movie “Saving Private Ryan,” a unit of soldiers goes on a mission to retrieve a young soldier named Private Ryan. In the story, Ryan’s three brothers had all been killed in World War II. Private Ryan was the only remaining son, so the Army ordered him found and brought home.

A significant part of the plot involves the sacrifice members of the unit make to rescue Private Ryan. Several members of the unit even die, giving their lives so Ryan can live and return to his home.

I’m convinced that we could use a few Sgt. Horvaths and Private Jacksons to fight for the Christian home today. How about a Capt. Miller, who is willing to stick with the mission, no matter what the cost? The church has a mission today, and it’s not all that different from the mission of Capt. Miller and his troops.

We need to bring Jesus back home if we are going to save society and halt the rampant progress of the enemy in our generation. We need to hark back to a seemingly long-forgotten time in the church when the Christian home was its own sanctuary of godliness and schoolhouse for worship.

We need a few brave fathers willing to take their home back for Christ. We need a few brave mothers willing to sacrifice their sons and daughters to the glory and will of God.

We need to remember why God created marriage and family at all. In the closing Old Testament book of Malachi, the Bible says, “Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.” (2:15 ESV)

Men in the film “Saving Private Ryan” made sacrifices to bring Private Ryan home. Our task today is to sacrifice to bring Christ — who made the ultimate sacrifice for us as the cross — back into Lordship of the Christian home.

We find Jesus in the church. We find Him in the Bible. These are good things, but something greater awaits when we bring Him back into the Christian home.

Jesus is absent from many Christian homes today. We’ve got our mass-marketed suburbanite McMansions with our mass-produced, mostly-plastic McLimos parked in the drive, but do we have Jesus seated at the head of the table?

A palace with no king on the throne is an empty shack, but even the humblest dwelling becomes a palace when the King lives there.

On this Fourth of July weekend, I ask what sacrifice you are willing to make to bring Jesus home. As we celebrate freedom in our land, let’s also consider the way to true and lasting freedom in our homes.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV)

Chris Surber is the pastor at Liberty Spring Christian Church in Suffolk. Email him at chris@chrissurber.com. Thurman Hayes’ column will return soon.