If Jesus is Lord, Where Does that Leave the Family?

A Christianity Today article caught my attention. In Dethroned, David P. Gushee talks about the importance of dethroning the "All-Important Self" and making sure that "Jesus is Lord" is regularly affirmed.

Mentors and authors have helped to sharpen my understanding of Christ's lordship. They've warned me about idols that threaten to replace him. Jesus Christ is Lord, so mammon cannot be. Jesus Christ is Lord, so relationships and pleasure cannot be. Neither can fame or power or education or career or success or, well, anything at all.

Affirming Jesus as Lord relativizes all earthly attractions, pleasures, and goods. They all come a distant second to Christ himself. That's why we can hardly be reminded too frequently of the implications of his lordship.

Gushee's article goes along with an acronym that I've often seen/heard Christians talk about: JOY. That is, Jesus, Others, Yourself. That is the order of importance in a Christians life, or at least that is what it ought to be for true Christians, the story goes.

At the same time, conservative Christians have basically a lock on the language of "family." Popular Chritian authors like James Dobson run institutions and disperse publications that "Focus on the Family." The "family" is under attack by same-sex marriages, many religious conservative say. In the name of the "family," many conservative Christians speak out authoritatively, as if they are the protectors of "traditional family values."

But insofar as Jesus is first and Others (like your family) are second, the family is secondary in importance to Jesus. Just as Gushee said above, earthly relations are a "distant second" in importance to Jesus.

This is an important site where criticism can be leveled at conservative Christians that presuppose and assert that they are focused on the family and that other non-Christians are not. Christians are focused on Jesus. The family is ultimately secondary. This should be challenged. True Christians cannot have two firsts, so the gap between Jesus on one hand and the Family on the other hand, is ripe for criticism.

Dethroning the All-Important Self and affirming that Jesus is Lord entails that the Family is dethroned as well. What are your priorities?