Bigger Family

I had a connect-the-dots, epiphany kind of moment this week as I was working through a discipleship field guide called, Saturate. It’s a study that all of the small groups in my church are doing right now and it is genuinely nourishing my soul.

My “ah ha!” moment came when I read this question by authors, Jeff Vanderstelt and Ben Connelly, “How does the tribal culture of Israel (God’s Old Covenant people) further inform God’s design for his people, that it’s always been a corporate lifestyle of pursuing obedience and faith together? How does this inform our understanding of “Church”?

Did the authors basically just say that the Israelites in the Old Testament were a church? I think they did! It has never occurred to me to think of them as a body of believers like I would those in the New Testament book of Acts. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

The Israelites were together in Egypt (in slavery), fled together across the dry ground of the Red Sea and spent 40 years in the dessert together. They saw God move (literally) together, they saw miracles and signs together, they grumbled together, they learned together, they ate together.

Together, the Israelites experienced God, His love, grace and redemption.

Moses, and other leaders along the way, tried to help the Israelites allow God to be the center of their culture and community.

It never occurred to me that, in essence, that was a precursor to the church as we know it today. I never thought about the foreshadowing of God’s design for the church in the book of Acts, many, many years before.

God knew we would need one another to effectively and relentlessly pursue obedience and faith. He knew we needed to do it in community.

As I was silently chewing on some of these thoughts and enjoying lunch with my 4-year-old, he asked me an unbelievably pertinent and unknowingly deep question:  “what if we had church every day?”

In his mind, church is a place we go. And he’s right, it’s where we go on Sundays to worship, to fellowship, to learn, to grow, and to give. But what if we broadened our range of meaning for “church” just a bit?

What if God’s design for “church” includes living in community, being on mission for God, because of the work of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit?

If that is God’s design, and our lifestyle reflects it, we just might have church every day. Think about how you “do life” with those around you, those in your community. Think about how often you get together, share a meal, talk about spiritual things.

My husband and I are so blessed to be part of a really wonderful community and one of those families lives just three doors down.

One day I was playing 20 Questions with my then 3-year-old, and I was trying to guess the person he was thinking of. I asked if that person was part of our “bigger family,” meaning our relatives who live nearby, but not in our home. He replied, “yes,” the person was part of our “bigger family.” I continued to ask more questions to narrow it down until I was completely stumped. Our family isn’t that big.

Finally, I gave up and said, “who is it?” He gave me the name of his closest friend, who lives three doors down. Why did he do that? Because that friend and his family are like family to us, and that’s how he thought of them and categorized them in his heart and mind. (I’m trying not to tear up as I type this). From the mouths of babes…

That family is also part of our church body and part of our small group. We really do life together.

Friends, if we really wanted to simplify the concept of “church” even more, I’d say it’s family. It’s your “bigger family,” those believers around you, with whom you do life, pursuing obedience and faith together. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about going to church on Sundays, but I’m also kind of liking this “church every day” idea too. 🙂

As we consider this life in community, we can’t help but also consider the important role love plays in it.

The Bible tells us that “we love because He first loved us.” What better response to that love, than to love God and love others (also the greatest command)?

Do you remember when Jesus said, “they will know you are my disciples by your love”?

Think about Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3, “…so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith–that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend…the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge…”

Who is in your “bigger family?” How are you showing love to them? Have you had them over for a meal lately? In what ways are you learning or growing with them? How have they encouraged you recently?

I want to thank you for being part of my “bigger family.” I couldn’t do this blog without you and am so encouraged when you share your comments and insights.

Stay tuned for another post next week. In the meantime, let us go be radiant in our “bigger families” this week.