Serenity often overruns the clock (and everything else) during my morning coffee. My deck provides the perfect spectator seat to the herd of deer that frequently visit the back field. I became captivated by a tender fawn, fumbling to climb the bank from the creek to catch up to mom. In that moment, it was in need of family.
This pack comes to graze a couple times a day. Sometimes they wander. Sometimes they stampede. Sometimes they frolic and play. Together. I wonder how well they’d fare without one another—especially the young ones.
I often wonder the same about the Lord’s disciples. How many times, even unaware, are they in need of family (if only to frolic)?
The apostle Paul rarely traveled alone. He journeyed on mission with brothers and sisters in the faith. Thankfully, Luke has provided record of some of those missionary journeys! My heart warms when I read of Paul mentoring young Timothy. Their bond was such that Paul called him “my son” (1 Corinthians 4:17). He also considered Rufus’ mother to be his own (Romans 16:13). He made clear his conviction that members of the Body are family—in word and deed. And that family was paramount to him.
Paul wrote extensively of the family of God; likely because of his profound experience of it.
I understand firsthand the deep, familial feelings Paul had toward fellow believers. The bond I’ve experienced with brothers and sisters in the faith is a strong, undeniable one. Some of those relationships have even eclipsed those of my own family, at times.
Do you view Christians as family?
Once when Jesus was preaching, His disciples announced the arrival of His family. He posed this question, “Who is my family?” (Matthew 12:46-50). (He proceeded to define that family.) In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, we learn that those who are in Christ, by faith, are family (Galatians 3:26). But do you consider those you gather with on Sundays as family? They are! They are your eternal family—graced by God. They’re the family, once truly tasted, you know you need. For life.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12-13 ESV).
Those who believe Jesus is the Christ, and have received Him as Lord, are children of God—by the will of God. And that’s a stronger tie than blood. In several ways, it’s a family more real than that of your blood relatives, for those in Christ are “members of one another” (Romans 12:5). We belong to each other.
It is a family who shares far more than holiday meals . . . but communion.
It is where, when gathered together in worship, heaven and earth meet.
This family is marked by more than a crest. But the cross. The Spirit.
Our relationships within this family are marked by love, righteousness, compassion, generosity, and forgiveness—because Jesus reigns over them and is in the midst of them.
Have you known the rich blessings of this family?
Within this family people are nurtured, comforted, challenged, and encouraged. It is where real ministry happens. It’s where life is lived, in every stage. It’s where the church provides for physical, spiritual, and emotional needs. Within the Body people are loved, mentored, and discipled. And they grow in faith, in love, in service, and in their spiritual gifts. It’s not without flaw or failure, mind you, but where we are being sanctified. Where there is an endeavoring to improve. To become.
There are seasons of giving. And seasons of need. Times of plenty, to share. And times of trial, when you lean heavily into God. Whatever the season, God’s presence and working is manifest within such a family.
Once again, we can turn our gaze toward Paul to see how the church ministered to him when he was isolated and in chains. When he faced times of uncertainty and testing. And when the haves rallied together to aid the have-nots.
This is the sort of family we need—whether we know it or not. But it’s not something that just happens. It requires commitment. Practice. And determined effort. It requires a personal investment of time. Inconvenience. And vulnerability. But the return is a hundredfold!
Experiencing life within the family of God does add a beauty and fullness to the heart that can’t be replicated by anything the world has to offer. All because God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts and together, as family, we exclaim, “Abba!” (Galatians 4:7). We have one glorious Father, Who loves His children fully and perfectly.
“The older the world grows, the more heated becomes the conflict between the Christ and the antichrist,” Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “The older the world grows, the more heated becomes the conflict between the Christ and the antichrist.” The older I get, the more I believe that to be true. And Christians are central in that conflict. This increases a sense of urgency to partner with Jesus in growing this family. In fully immersing ourselves in this family. And it reinforces the truth that true flourishing happens only within this family in such troubled times.
This is the family God knew we needed—whether we’re grazing, struggling, or charging forward like those deer. And His Son sacrificed all—so we can be called His brothers and sisters.
Won’t you bind yourself to them?
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