The Theology of Home

Welcome to family policy matters in engaging and informative weekly radio show and podcast produced by the North Carolina family policy Council hi this is John Ralston, presidency, family, and were grateful to have you with us for this week's program is our prayer that you will be informed, encouraged and inspired by what you hear on family policy matters and that you will fold better equipped to be a voice of persuasion for family values in your community, state and nation, and now here's our house to family policy matters. Tracy Devitt Griggs thanks for joining us this week for family policy matters here at the North Carolina family policy Council. We talk frequently about how marriage and family are the most foundational building blocks of society as Christian inspired ideals face an increasingly hostile reception from government and society be a temptation to think that we can't do anything to fix the situation well. Today's guest contends that our efforts in our own homes may have the greatest impact on society. Dr. Carey grass is a fellow at the Washington DC based tank ethics and Public policy Center, where she codirects their theology of home project.

She founded the online women's magazine by the same name and has co-authored books entitled theology of home one and two.

She's a homeschooling mother of five Dr. Carey grass welcome to family policy matters. Thank you so much for having me.

So start off by telling us what do you mean by the term theology of home and how is that connected to public policy.

That's a great question and execute really big questions, let me break them up a little bit.

The first idea theology of home is really the recognition that home is meant to be a foretaste of heaven that when we are in our home for men can understand that we are loved that were safe, that were comforted.

We were nourished a totality all the things happen at the home level. We also he has happened in heaven to the ideal of that there's something in the human heart that really desires that a beautiful home and I think we see that in that death, even in the numbers in terms of what people are spending on the hunted them in a multibillion-dollar industry at this point and yet you know we want more than just air how to make arms fit all that we want to know why we should make them beautiful and why they're important in IQ, that is been driven home gently by the lockdown the past year moving beyond just this idea that our home is kind of a familiar hotel where we just sleep and maybe get fed and that fit the idea behind reality.

Home is a really focus on the value of home, but in a home to the make itself. It also needs a homemaker and of course that the notion of homemaking has become so out of vogue really for the last 50 years, and so we just thought my co-author and I thought I would be a great idea to look at this and see how do we recapture this and see that this is vitally important that this is really connected to. They think that we are spending our money on, and the desires of other human heart. Of course the second piece of that cost is about how does this connect the policy gently and you and your listeners know well there's a lot of things that are happening in Washington that are actually corrupting the family or working against the family unit and the family.

The basic cell of civilization when the family corrupted civilization can be crafted so that the idea is against this or to challenge a lot of these ideas that have become very popular in the public square.

Even for the last 50 years you know, if you look at radical feminism. They had to change their talking points they can still draw the word patriarchy and everybody sort of thing � the problem or in a homemaking is all follower in all of these kind of things that are brought up over and over again, but we we will look at how do we restore that. How do we policy to buttress the family instead of incentivizing things that destroy the family tend several times about why it's important for the home to be beautiful and I'm assuming that you don't just mean decorating rate yet know something deeper here. Of course we know beauty is something that is just about luxury beauty is something that draws us and wears luxury is something that pops us up to put it in shorthand, but now that that the homily is meant to be beautiful. I think when there is a home that honors Christ and and led by Christian ideals. People sense that and are drawn into it. That's one of the reasons why hospitality is certainly so important that there's there's a beauty that happened there in the relationship and the nurturing and that is all of the elements that make up a healthy home so yes, it's obviously not meant to be offensive luxury or syrup showing off what is meant to really reveal God. We know God is beautiful and so using those visual material things to help reveal him and is vitally important so absolutely think that's an important element of the home, and I think also we been told so much that by the culture that women stay at home, or women who are Christians or archived doormat. And yet that such a complete lie and it's beautiful to see that we can use images and this is what we did in our book that there have a lot of illustrations and incredible photography show people just how beautiful this life really can be those of us who study the family understand the many benefits that come with it, not just to the individuals in the family but also to the whole community and really beyond just for those of us that may not say this every day remind us what some of those benefits are one of my favorite researchers that I recently stumbled upon as a researcher from 1915 and when was his last name, and he did this great study and it was a Christian at Albany and he was shocked by the results that he found that he did the study on cultures and he saw that whenever cultures abandon monogamy. They did not have the energy or the life force relates to to continue on as a culture and I think that that kind of element to the power that really is harness and family is so important, I think it's really amazing to you in a while things that Noel bearing I have really promoted is again this idea.

We make this compelling and beautiful for people to see on a cultural level whether it's our books or magazines or in Hollywood or whatnot because you been shut out of the media for their very trees and how do we make people understand these beautiful things do happen where you have a fulfillment that you have that happy husband where the husband and wife work as a team they don't have to do the exact same thing and they work where their gifts are and then from that come their children who are then happy in the provide and would give back culture. One of the fun things about what publishing our book was that we we sent a lot of time thinking about images and made got no dad to look happy, incompetent, which is you know other things that he turn on TV today Juergen is a commercial about a very incompetent white man. You know it is not a diaper baby or something. So, if it's that kind of constant chipping away at men and certainly not looking at women from a healthy perspective of what womanhood is all those things are important and I think even just looking at if we look at women today. If you look at any the metrics are women happier today and we were told that we should be because we've instituted all of these elements of radical feminism that the data is shows a completely different picture you got an increase in suicide increase and drug abuse STDs subsidies all these kind of things are appointed and very unhappy moment, so it's interesting to see then what the fulfillment actually comes when we are working with the order that God said about the enemy can read about in general Genesis before actually fulfilling our own lives and that of our whole family use that women are the most underappreciated evangelical force in history took a little more about that when you mean it's interesting to look back at at the church back to cry certainly and to defeat the role that women have played in bringing others to the church tempted bringing others to Christ thinking about someone like St. St. Monica there would be no sin against them if there was no think because of her prayers. This is what women do we influence their husbands influence our children influence neighbors and and we have this capacity. Do that for our compassion and our love for others. So I think we have been living with this again with this mistaken notion that unless were really going along with radical feminism with the culture that which we have a voice and a fact that the exact opposite is the case, so it's not really our goal to help encourage women to understand what they can do with who they are as women with these great gifts of compassion and of listening and it really the things that didn't need that other people have. You know those are very powerful ways to witness and also love people and help them see really am not the love of God.

So yeah, I think it's in an exciting opportunity we have a we start looking at it that way instead of seeing ourselves as women who are only meant to just compete with men that our goal is to be in control are powerful. In fact, we know from Scripture that our goal is really to be fruitful and we look at that very extensively in our book theology home to what is this idea of fruitfulness and how we live that out as women in any stage of life.

Any walk of life. There certainly for all of us to be harvesting you respond to people. Men and women who are inclined to withdraw from society.

I'm thinking in particular public policy policy is a mess that you know if you've ever entered into a conversation you know against abortion on demand or even in your support of the thing. Really, you know me will get some major blowback to what you say to people who are who want to say on the retreat to my home. I stayed home and just let the world, you know, do its thing you respond to that. There's there's gonna be a real balance because there are times that you and I know for myself.

There are times I just have to retreat to my home in that you hide my mentor on her pillow just lock the world out and really go back to prayer and and you know maybe make a retreat and sort of just reinforced myself. I think so many of us are called to be much more public than then we are and maybe would be so messy if whereabouts had a voice. I guess that an individual reality and something that really requires a lot of prayer really requires requires the recognition of what our gifts are and how that how we can use them in. I think that that again this is that a balance where they are to be stated.

I know in my own life when I had four small children under the age of five and I was nowhere to be involved in the policy. The life we can do things and we can be involved and engaged, and it doesn't have to be obligated. Now you don't have to feel like you need to go to the steps for capital become even certain things like very simple things like passing on a good book to somebody that you know is struggling with something journey. Praying for others. Being a prayer warrior for people that are out there on the front line because that's really the people are taking a lot of hits and they need that prayer and that protection side. I think that that stately meeting thing is that we should also be thinking about how can we vote. Can we do both where we are not abandoning our homes and our our children might not because of public policy, but were also not abandoning public policy for home went with there can be a balance object bumps together with our different Right and I love the comment that you made about seasons in your life.

I think you're right that we don't necessarily have to do it all.

Right now, now, in fact, as I'm talking I have got four different spot opened up right now.

I'm sure plumbing issues that I don't have a beautiful home right at them, but my children know that they are loved and it really is a season that cannot be that the plumbers will take care of this problem, and it eventually. But yes we are. We are all called by different stages of our life get to do different things. This event and it's not just for mom terminates at fair women of every walk of life and attorney for men of every walk of life. We have different gifts, negative used, and in different ways is as we get older and I think that's a beautiful thing. The more that we say yes to what God is asking us to do more work in the seer get our own against flourish in and be used in ways that is in accord with his will and in ways that will really transform the culture operating for that audience of one, and I always try to remember that I'm just trying to please God. Amen impact can or should it have on all of us to remember that we have been called to live at this particular time in history.

It was not an accident that we were born. Now is it is an incredible question because I think about that a lot with just my own children when they're afraid of things and we all feel that pension of what what on earth and why my here in a while I hear you.beautiful thing that God knows he fashioned ourselves in a specific way for the specific time and we all have gifts you gonna put us where we are needed most.

So rather than start a feeling that that frustration or that fear or that you capacity to to do something we need to we need to start small and from there other doors will open and you things will come about that. Absolutely I think pressing into that idea. But that's not an accident that were here that God really does have a mission and plan for our life. It gives great courage and hope to test really see what it is that he wants to do through us for just about out of time for this week.

But before we go. Dr. Carey grass where listeners go to follow your work on the theology of home. The best places theology of home.com or my personal website Carey grass.com Dr. Carey grass. Thank you so much for being with us on family policy matters. You been listening to family policy matters. We hope you enjoyed the program employment to to begin next week to listen to the show will want them to learn more about into families want to inform, encourage and inspire families across been through a lot of website into family.award that's into family.org books again for listening and may God bless you and your family