Matthew 12:49 Pointing to his disciples, Jesus said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
I am a great fan of families. However, reading Ed Shaw’s book “The plausibility problem” (Get it now and read it!) has challenged me about the way that I am in danger of idolising the nuclear family over my Christian family.
The church is a wonderfully broken family. It’s made up of people who willingly admit that they are so messed up and rebellious against God that it took the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus to make us His children. It is made up of people drawn from different nations, cultures and families, but all united to God as our Father and Jesus as our Brother. It is made up of people who should have a deep, Spirit given, love for one another, that transcends all earthly divisions.
It is from my Christian brothers and sisters that the Bible says I will experience God’s love tangibly (1 John 4:12), not from my wife or children. Therefore, I need to think of ways to break down the barriers of our culture which encourages us to shut others out of our “family time”. And instead think of how we, as a husband, wife and children, can be better at inviting those in our church family to share in the love of Christ with us.