By: Laura Bennett
In the last two years, many of us have asked, why did we do it that way? Why did I jam my schedule so full? Why didn’t I get off the wheel of the daily grind sooner?
Parents may have also seen upsides to more shared meals (on the good days), and maybe you’ve found yourself thinking about the pattern of family life and what you’d like to do differently if you could.
Father-of-three and author Jefferson Bethke has asked those same questions and revaluates the entire modern Western model of the family unit in his new book, Take Back Your Family.
“Homes have gone from being places of mission to now being nothing more than places of consumption,” Jefferson told his 224,000 Instagram followers.
“I’m calling [the book] a manifesto for anyone who senses there is something wrong about the way we do parenting and family in the West but can’t quite put our finger on it.
“It’s me pointing to some incredible ancient family tools that have some dust on them… and nudging you toward a more biblical model of strengthening the family team God has right in front of you.”
Jefferson says our individualised culture also has some drawbacks when it comes to building a healthy family.
“In our culture, family is not a team but just a collection of individuals. The individual is the most important ideal and value but [my wife Alyssa and I] believe doing life together as a family will actually bring us more joy and flourishing,” he said.
“In our culture, family is not a team but just a collection of individuals… [my wife Alyssa and I] believe doing life together as a family will actually bring is more joy and flourishing,” – author Jefferson Bethke
“I’m not saying the answer is to ‘hang out together all the time’.
“I’m saying ‘how we can we integrate our lives as a family team a little more than most?’.”
About Jefferson Bethke: Jefferson is a New York Times bestseller (Jesus > Religion, It’s Not What You Think, and To Hell with the Hustle), who became an overnight YouTube sensation when his four-minute video, Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus, went viral, garnering some six millions views within three days of its release. Since then, the movie short has been viewed by more than 34 million people around the world.
Article supplied with thanks to Hope Media.
About the Author: Laura is a media professional, broadcaster and writer from Sydney, Australia.