There are a number of ways to refer to the church and the people who make it up.  The one I like best is “The Family of Faith.”  It helps me to understand the nature of the church as I think about the similarities of the church family and our natural families.

    Although some are adopted, the ordinary way to become a part of a natural family is by being born into the family.  The bond of birth is a shared experience that holds us together.  This is also true in our other family.  We become a part of the family of faith by being born again into that family.  This bond of new birth is the common experience that binds the church together.

    Although we share the same parents, we may be very different from the other members of our natural family.  I have only one sibling, my sister, but we are as different as can be imagined.  We don’t like the same things.  We don’t do things the same way.  We are different.  Pat and I have four sons.  They are very different.  Their personalities are different.  Their lives are different.  They do things differently.  This is paralleled in our other family.  Some pastors and other “leaders” work hard to get us to be identical, but the Father who generated us and regenerated us made us different.  This makes life interesting without weakening the bond of family.  We are one, even though we are different.

    Disagreements and disappointments are part of every human family.  If we are not willing to accept and adapt, we may become estranged from one another.  But where there is a willingness to work at it, we can come together again.  This is also true in our other family.  I have never been part of a church where there were no disagreements or disappointments.  I have seen situations where some members of the family refused to be reconciled, but there is always the possibility that we can accept and adapt and come together in love.

    I love my natural family.  I am strengthened and nurtured within its boundaries.  Its ties can never be truly severed.  It is a steady source of comfort and care.  So also with my other family.  I love the brothers and sisters who share the new birth and accept and adapt to our differences.  They are a steady source of comfort and care, from which I hope never to be separated.

    I need both families, and I am grateful God in His grace made both of them part of my life.