Are the Church and family to remain separate institutions?

Matt Holst explains in this video that while the family and the Church are both God-ordained institutions, neither has the right to lord over each other. They are each separate institutions

The family ought to be a microcosm of the Church. If the Church is functioning as it should, it should not usurp the authority of the family. It is not the responsibility of the Church to raise the children of its families -- that is the job of the parents. While the Church should teach from Scripture how parents are to parent and how spouses are interact with each other, it may not attempt to usurp the role of parents. Likewise, families should not attempt to usurp the authority of the Church.

Hebrews 13:17 (NKJV) - "Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you."



The family and the church are both God-ordained institutions and the parents are the God-ordained authority in the family institution and the elders and ministers are the authority in the church. Neither of those two authorities have the right to lord it over the other. There are proper authorities pertaining to the family, proper authorities pertaining to the church. The family ought to be a microcosm of the church, and if it is the microcosm of the church, then there ought not be any problems from the family side toward the church. If the parents are raising their children properly, they will raise them with the proper respect for the church and the authority of the church.

In a light manner, if the church is functioning as it ought to, as Christ has commanded it to, it ought not attempt to usurp the authority of the family. Clearly, parents are given the responsibility to raise their children. That's not the job of the church any more than it's the job of the church to be a husband to a wife or a wife to a husband. And yet the church has things to say about parenting. It has things to say about husbands and wives and rightly so because the Word of God does.

So I think a basic rule that would help those dynamics is where Scripture speaks to the family, the church may speak to the family, and if necessary the church may administer discipline in a family setting. But it may not go beyond that. It may not attempt to usurp the role of parents. And the family likewise ought not attempt to usurp the authority of the Church.