A Chinese proverb says: "It is harder to lead a family than to rule a nation." Why is this the case? I think it's due largely to the fact that Satan has a goal to plunge families into ruin, thereby spoiling the Gospel witness in many lives. Eph. 5 mentions that the marriage is a picture of Christ and the Church. If the enemy can mar and distort this picture, children will not have this view of Christ. And if the enemy can neutralize the man, he can easily bring the family into disrepair.
Farrar enlightens men to the fact that God has appointed us to be the head of our family. He states, "You are the point man." (27). This means husbands are to lead and not surrender that job to mommy, TV, school, Sunday school teachers, the wider culture, or the child's friends. Three first steps are (43ff.): be there physically, be there emotionally, and be careful about adultery. As for "being there," Christian men need to understand that time is measured in quantity, not "quality." We've bought into culture's notion of "quality time." Time isn't measured that way; it's only measured quantitatively.
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