THOUGHTS ON CHURCH FAMILY

Don't know that I've experienced "church family" except in a small house church years ago. It gets pretty hard to be an organic body of believers... a family, when the group size gets much over 30 or so, but small churches don’t have much in the way of creature comforts or services... so... and thus begins the size dichotomy. The church leadership... pastors, etc., may experience church as a family because everyone wants to be in their inner circle and they get ample opportunity to share, care, and be supported. For ministers, church probably is like a big extended family, but for the rest of us pew warmers, church family is a myth without reality. A quick read of Acts chapter two through four sheds light on the relational dynamic of an organic body of believers. Of course “small groups” was supposed to fix this problem... and didn’t. It is sad that so many are satisfied with so little, it's like contentedly eating crumbs off the floor, never realizing there is a banquet fit for a king on the table above.

The real fix is small churches that can really be an organic body of believers... an extended family, very much like the first century churches: Small groups of believers, meeting in homes, led by home grown Holy Spirit picked Elders (note the plural), sharing life, sharing God, sharing their “stuff”, demonstrating their faith through love for their brethren, worshiping God in the unity of the Spirit. 1Cor. 14:26-33 paints a picture of this “participative” church assembly: “When you gather for worship, each one of you be prepared with something that will be useful for all: Sing a hymn, teach a lesson, tell a story, lead a prayer, provide an insight ... Take your turn, no one person taking over. Then each speaker gets a chance to say something special from God, and you all learn from each other ... When we worship the right way, God doesn’t stir us up into confusion; He brings us into harmony. This goes for all the churches—no exceptions.” Sounds good, but taking on a real extended family is costly, both literally and emotionally, sharing our stuff... loving others as we love ourselves... rejoicing with those who rejoice and mourning with those who mourn, praying effectual fervent prayers for one another... loving in deed and not in word? Love, Sacrifice, Passion and Obedience, the things that bring a twinkle to our Father’s eyes, were the primary ingredients of the first century church. What they lacked in luxurious facilities, creature comforts, and choreographed assemblies was dung... as Paul would say, when compared with the experience of living life as God intended, as a real family of brothers and sisters in Christ...

WE CAN’T LOVE THE BACK OF SOMEONE’S HEAD