Relate Authenically

There are few metaphors for the church that carry as deep a meaning as the family of God. The imagery of a loving Father is precious to those who have known a good father, and hope to those that have not.

Every family has a certain set of customs, that is to say, rules for interaction. Growing up in my household we had a rule that there should be no singing at the table. That was because we all sang and once one person started then everyone would join in and it would get very loud, and take a long time to finish the meal. The family of God has rules too. There are family rules about the way we talk to each other, the way we talk about each other. Rules of family respect and honor. But all the rules are built on one foundational thing, love.

When we are part of the family, love should be real. Real in ourselves, let's just face the truth that we are all hypocrites. We all hold ideals that we wish were true about who we are, yet live lives that fall short of those ideals. We should be real with others. We don't fake it, avoid it, and we certainly don't hold bitterness or hatred between us. Instead, we love. We do the hard work of love. We love honorably in our small groups. We build strength among the family of God sitting around the circle. When we have difficulty and need forgiveness, and when we need to be forgiven, we come to the table and work it out. We need to relate authentically.

My final thought is on the growth of the family. God, our Father, is always looking for children to adopt. He loves adding members to the family. We need to express authentic love and interest in new people. People that come into our weekend service should leave knowing there is a place for them in our family. We need to relate authenically.

And that's all I have to say about that right now...

-Ben