What is a family? Traditionally it is a group of people connected through marital and blood lines. Those lines, however, don't always flow in a straight line, making it difficult to limit the term "family" only to marital and biological ties. My extended family is no different.
As we celebrated the homegoing of my grandfather who lived 84 years on this side of glory, I looked around at my family and marveled at how God took so many long lines, loose ends and small fragments and weaved them into a beautiful tapestry called "family." Regardless of biology, we claim everyone fully in our family. You will seldom hear references to "half" or "step" relations.
Even with all of the unconditional love and full acceptance of family members, even the strongest of family ties can sometimes get tangled up into "nots" --this one is not getting along with that one; that one is not being treated fairly or; the other one is not living up to the family traditions/expectations.
These "nots" can threaten to destroy the fabric of a family, unless enough family members are part of the larger family of God. With faith and obedience to God, acceptance of Jesus' shed blood and the receiving of the Holy Spirit's power and fruit, families can weather any storm, whether or "not" they agree on every issue. When family members have "hidden God's Word in their heart that they might not sin against Him" that same word will help them to either not sin against one another, or recover better if they do.
God's Word admonishes us to "forsake not the assembling of ourselves together" and "what God has put together let no man put asunder." While scriptures like these are written in specific contexts, they are certainly food for thought when it comes to our family ties. It is important to come together in large gatherings, it is also important to come together emotionally and spiritually because God didn't allow us to be together in a family so we could be apart.
Our church families are no different. As people of faith, we are part of a larger family known as the body of Christ and, while our individual faith journey is our own to take, we must stay connected to the larger body because we are designed to commune and connect with others. Even God exists in a community of sorts--Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
When we assemble together at church, we strengthen one another and reinforce the bond of love that ties us together. When we pull away from the fellowship and live as "Lone Ranger" Christians, we miss a vibrant part of being in the family of God. We fail to realize that in God's family, "five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight" when it comes to handling the challenges that we face. There is truly strength in numbers--not perfection, just strength. The perfection comes through God as He causes all things to work together for our good.
Remember, whether at church or at home, misunderstandings, miscommunications and downright disagreements are nothing God can't handle. When we submit ourselves individually and collectively to God, we will truly be able to unconditionally and proudly proclaim about our church and home families, "blessed be the ties that bind..."
BNcouraged!
Rev. Karen
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