Tim Challies has just launched a provocative review of our film, Divided. I thought it would be helpful to supply some clarifying information that may not have been represented in the review. I have appreciated reading Tim Challies’ blog for many years,  and I consider his ministry to me a blessing. I will continue to glean from him.

Tim made an unfounded remark when he said that the NCFIC is “making family integration the pivotal and central doctrine for the church. It identifies a genuine problem but attempts to solve it in a way that elevates methodology instead of the gospel message.” This is completely false and contrary to what we have always maintained rather publicly. In the FAQ section of the NCFIC web site, we make this statement under the heading, What is the NCFIC’s Purpose:

…We do not believe that family-integration is the only—or even the primary—issue in selecting or establishing a local church. But it is unquestionably a defining issue of our day as the modern church has lost the essential familistic culture that we see modeled in the New Testament.

Another statement I made in my book A Weed in the Church makes this even clearer.

Tim also referenced Andraes Kostenberger’s chapter on the Family-Integrated Church Movement. In a two part review, we point out some of the inaccuracies made here in A Review of and A Response to Andreas Kostenberger’s Critique of the Family-Integrated Approach to Church Ministry. There are a number of misrepresentations that are recorded in that chapter, in the midst of a very fine book on God Marriage and Family.

Here are some Answers for Critics that debunk many of the often claimed falsehoods of the NCFIC.