5 minute read
Your Church Family and You
by Mathew Block
There’s no feeling like going home. Over the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to get together with my parents a little more often than I normally do. And no matter how long or short it’s been since last I saw them, walking in the front door always brings a smile to my face.
I have a similar sensation when I walk in the front door of my home church in Hudson Bay. It’s the church where I was baptized and confirmed, and I always look forward to worshipping with the saints there. After all, I’ve known most of them all my life; there’s a reason Christians refer to their congregation as their “church family.”
The Scriptures regularly refer to the relationship between Christians in familial terms. Consider St. Paul, for example. He saw himself as a spiritual father to the members of the churches he had planted, even occasionally using maternal imagery to emphasise his fondness for them (e.g. 1 Corinthians 4:14-15; Galatians 4:19; 1 Thessalonians 2:7; 2:11). They were his children, and he cared for them with real parental love.
But they were not only his children; they were also his brothers and sisters. Indeed, St. Paul regularly refers to his audience throughout his letters with the word “brothers” (see, for example, 1 Corinthians where he addresses his audience in this way 20 times!). Likewise, he considers faithful women like Phoebe to be his “sister” (Romans 16:1).
Nor does St. Paul see the church merely as children or siblings; he also tells us that elders in the congregation should be treated like fathers and mothers. To the young pastor Timothy, he writes: “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity” (1 Timothy 5:1-2).
St. Paul then could view his fellow church members as children, as siblings, and even as parents—in other words, as family. And that is precisely what we are: God’s family. Through the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have been reconciled to God and made His children (1 John 3:1). As Jesus Himself says, those who walk in the will of God are truly His “brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:35, Matthew 12:50).
As in any family, of course, we all have different roles to play. Your father is not your mother, nor is your sister your brother. Each person is unique. This is true also of your church family. St. Paul tells us that each Christian has a role to play in the life of the church: “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Romans 12:4).
The way in which you serve your congregation will differ depending on your own gifts and vocation: pastors have a different role than laity; deacons have a different role than volunteers. But we are all called to contribute to the life of the church, using the various gifts and abilities we have been given in service to our sisters and brothers. “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness” (Romans 12:5-8).
Nor are we merely to use our gifts; we are to do so with sincere familial love for each other. “Let love be genuine,” St. Paul continues. “Love one another with brotherly affection” (12:9, 10).
As family, we owe a duty of respect and care one to another, knowing that our own love for each other grows out of the love God has first shown us. “In this is love,” St. John writes, “not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:10-11). So ask yourself: what can you do to care for your brothers and sisters in Christ? How can you respond to God’s great and undeserved love for you with love for the wider family of God?
In this issue, we consider some of the vocations through which Christians share the love of God with family members. Our first two features address the vocation of parenthood. Rev. Alex Klages explores what it means to be a Christian father, while Kelly Klages discusses the vocation of Christian motherhood. For our third feature, Rev. David Haberstock ponders the vocation of adult children, asking what it means to honour our fathers and mothers as they age. Regardless of your own personal family situation, I pray these articles give you food for thought as you also reflect on your relationship with the fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, and children in your local congregation.
Heavenly Father, You have called us to be one family through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Send Your Holy Spirit to open our hearts towards our local church families. Inspire us with Your love, that we might serve and more deeply care for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Amen.
