Understandingly, it is easier to tell someone how to do something than to live a life before them and then say “imitate me” as Paul did.  The problem is we do not produce what we teach, we produce what we are.  Isn’t that the biggest frustration of a parent when they see their own negative character traits manifesting in their children’s lives?  Charles Simpson, of CSM, says, “We institutionalize our children when they are young and they institutionalize us when we are old.”  Our eyes are opening to the revelation Jesus told us that we only produce what we are.  If we want children that honor and value their parents, we need to honor and value them.  If we want to live an honorable long life we need to honor and value our fathers and mothers in the Lord.  Vine Fellowship Network’s heart is to have over 10,000 fathers and mothers in the Lord with enough teachers to affectively disciple God’s people to be followers of Jesus Christ. 
 
The Church is a family and families have not only brothers and sisters, but also mothers and fathers, as Paul said.  It is this heart’s desire that we impart and encourage sons and daughters in the Lord to mature and become fathers and mothers in the Lord.  A organic church leader in Vine Fellowship Network might not be someone that is an apostle, might not be a prophet, might not be a pastor, might not be a teacher, but they are godly men and women who have a father’s and mother’s heart.  Anyone who has lived life for any time at all has seen natural fathers and mothers, whose education, abilities and talents were less than their children, yet they raise awesome children who are NFL Football players, Chief Executive Officers of large organizations, doctors of medicine, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists… How can this be?  It’s because the most important thing we can do as natural and spiritual fathers and mothers is to “be there” for our children; a stable person they can consistently count on and relate with to pray for them, encourage them, direct them to resources, and be someone who not only desires to see them have natural and spiritual children, but expects them to.  Anything healthy, including sons and daughters, reproduce after its own kind; sons and daughters becoming fathers and mothers themselves as they have sons and daughters in the Lord.

We believe every family member in the body of Christ needs to be rightly related in the body in the relationships that God places in their life.  We believe no matter someone’s gifting(s) without being rightly related it opens him or her to unnecessary struggles in their journey (see pastoral statistics), outside of this struggle they’ll also be missing one of the greatest rewards God has given us “being family.” This unnecessary struggle in the family has been documented by a multitude of people (see State of the Family) who in their research details the dysfunction of young and adult children who didn’t have a healthy relationship or a relationship at all with one or both of their parents; especially their fathers. 

There has been much dysfunction in the natural and church family for some time. Many have given up on it not being available or too painful, as if giving up is an option.  Others have accepted institutions in the place of family.  There’s something inside all of us that wants to say we’re related to someone, but since there have been so few fathers many have become related to an organization.  We are thankful for the godly organizations that have been established over the years because they have stood in the gap for the fathers and mothers who didn’t take their role, or see value in that role.  The good news is the “…father’s hearts are turning to the children and the children are turning to the fathers” Malachi 4:5-6, once again.  Once again family will be one of the highest values for the church, under our Father God and His Son and our Elder Brother Jesus.  For it is our loving family relationship as ‘THE ONE BODY’ of Jesus Christ that demonstrates we are disciples of Jesus and that Father God loves everyone as much as He Loves our Elder Brother, Jesus.