Skip to main content

The Church as Family

One of the most frequent comparisons I hear is that church is like a family. That is often the goal of many churches, to create a family environment where people feel welcome and included. This is a sentiment I agree with, but I also think that we often don't realize what we are asking for.

Families, by their very nature, bear responsibility.

When we say family, what we mean is a place of warmth and caring. What we usually don't mean is vulnerability. We want the picturesque TV family, where all the problems are solved by supper and there is no lasting stakes. This isn't the kind of family church is meant to be.

Church is a real family. Real families don't always get along. Real families see the ugly side of each member. Real families have to work through their problems over the course of years. Real families are vulnerable.

Warmth and care are easy when everyone pretends to have it all together. How much more impactful would it be if in our churches we showed that same love to the vulnerable and the hurting? What if we treated our church family as a real family?

What if we came to the aid of our brothers and sisters in Christ the way we do for our blood family? What if we were as honest with one another as we often are with our siblings or parents? What if we never gave up on each other, no matter how dark and horrid the sin may be?

I believe that the church is a family, a real family. As we strive towards the goal let us be honest with one another, confessing our sins  as James instructs us to do. Let us trust in one another, be there for one another, and just love one another the way a family does.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Augustine of Hippo: Historical Friday

We pause our overview of the history of Christianity to talk about an extremely influential figure, whether we realize it or not. Augustine of Hippo, so called because he lived in the town of Hippo Regius, has had a tremendous amount of influence on Christianity in the western world. Many of the theological conversations we have in our churches today have been directly shaped by this man. Many of the terms and ideas we throw around originated with Augustine.  Today we are going to look at SOME of the ideas that Augustine has shaped. In reality this man has touched in some way or another every aspect of Christian thought. If I had to choose the most influential people on Christianity outside of Jesus and the Apostles, Augustine might very well be number one alongside Martin Luther. Before we get into the theological ideas, a brief biography is in order. Brief Biography Augustine's story is actually very interesting, one I cannot hope to do justice here. If you are intereste...
Post a Comment
Read more

Justice

Our view of justice is narrow and limited. Typically when we, as Christians, talk about justice we are really only referring to punishing wrongdoers for their crimes. While that is certainly a part of justice that isn't the only thing. In the Bible justice consists of much more. Consider the book of Amos, one of the minor prophets and therefore a book that most Christians barely touch. Amos is announcing judgment against the nation of Israel for their infidelity to their covenant with God. What do you think is the most repeated indictment against Israel? Interestingly it's not idolatry, sexual immorality, or war although these things are mentioned. The primary sin of in Amos is Israel's neglect of the poor and their oppression of the needy. Over and over again Amos declares that judgment is coming to Israel because of their treatment of those less fortunate. The poor are trampled and the needy are crushed. There is no justice in the land. Biblical justice includes both crim...
Post a Comment
Read more

Be Kind

This last Sunday I was asked to preach and I struggled for a while with what to preach on. It's always difficult when you are filling in and everyone else knows you are filling in. You don't want to overlap too much with the current sermon series, but you also don't want your topic to be so unrelated to what's been going on that it has no impact.  I found inspiration simply from scrolling on Facebook. People, and it seems especially Christians, are mean.  Now of course not all Christians are rude and combative, but there are a shocking number who are. We argue in Facebook comments, send hateful messages, and generally act just like the world. This extends beyond the realm of social media and into our day-to-day interactions with so many. The Sunday lunch crowd at restaurants is infamously the worst tipping and most disrespectful, and these are mostly Christians who have just come from church. We need to be kind. Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit, but it is one we often ...
Post a Comment
Read more