Saturday, November 6, 2010

We Are All Family

"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone."

-- Ephesians 2:19-20

We often think of the church as being a building where we worship God and gather for fellowship. Actually, the church is a group of believers. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He lives within us. We are all one body. Sometimes we even act like it.

Church folks are some of the most critical, back-stabbing people you'll ever meet. Don't get me wrong. They can be kind and generous and fiercely protective of their own. But they fuss and gossip, they form cliques, and someone is always unhappy with someone. Makes me wonder sometimes why anyone would want to be part of such a group.

What's so funny -- and you have to laugh or you'll break down sobbing -- is that some of the people don't have a clue as to what they're doing. One woman told me she was just fed up with all the gossip at her church. Then she proceeded to talk badly about several people. I defended a couple. She didn't like that at all. She doesn't see herself as part of the problem. She's blinded by her own self-righteousness.

Contrast that with a few church members conducting a yard sale for a small church. They don't even have their own building but they are faithful and true. The sale was going a little slow but they didn't seem to mind. They talked about all the wonderful people they'd met and the opportunities to witness. If there were fusses going on, I didn't hear about. If they felt put upon because not many church members were helping, it didn't show. If they were frustrated by their sales figures, they didn't seem to waiver in their faith.

Jesus called everyone to Himself. He wanted us all to get along, to help one another, to build up God's kingdom and not tear it down with bickering among ourselves. We all want to be first, to be most important, to be right. But who is willing to sacrifice for Christ? Who puts God first in all things? Who gives and gives and gives, refusing to stop and reflect on what others might or might not be doing?

My Uncle Green, the youngest of 13 children and the one who always brought the family together, told us again and again "we're family." He expected us to get along, to help one another, to support one another in good an bad times. It was that blood tie that kept us together no matter what happened around us.

We are all citizens of God's family. We are bound together by the blood of Christ. We are called to reflect the light of Jesus to others. We can't control what other people think and say but we can and should control our own words and actions. Perhaps our actions will reflect back and they'll change their behavior as well.