As For Me and My House

Many Christian families have taken Joshua’s words in his last speech to Israel as their motto: But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Did Joshua have the authority to make that statement for his family? “Of course,” he is the head of his house. “No way,” each person should have the freedom to worship according to his conscience. God expects a father to train his children to serve the Lord (Gn 18:19, De 4:9, I Ti 3:4-5). What about his wife? He was supposed to marry only a believer. So Joshua could speak for his whole house. If he believed after his marriage, he could hope for his wife’s salvation (I Co 7:12, 16); he could not command it. The Bible, in fact, does not teach that a wife should go along with her husband’s religion. She should always put God first, no matter where her husband stands, and her goal for him is his conversion (I Pt 3:1-3).