Family of God
This is the final installment in answering the question: What do we mean at Grace Downtown by being inwardly growing and outwardly serving? So far we've considered "Living in Place," "Spiritual Practice," and now "Family of God" (our ministry theme for the year).
In Scripture, God uses earthly metaphors to help us understand heavenly realities. This is true of the Church. When the church is called the Body of Christ we're reminded that our spiritual life is not only bound to God through Jesus Christ but to every believer. When the church is called the Bride of Christ it reminds us that we together are the object of God's affection. When the church is called the Priesthood of Believers we comprehend that we have been set apart for God's purposes. But, of all the identifiers given for the church the most fundamental and primary is Family or Household of God.
For some of us it's hard to identify with the metaphor. Maybe it reminds us of the brokenness of our own biological family or some creepy religious cult? Scripture reveals a vision of family which is whole, transparent and redeeming. As part of the family of God we begin to understand that we are favored sons and daughters with the full rights of heirs. Just when we think God would or should leave us to the pigsty of our own foolishness or receive us as a lesser family member or place us on emotional probation, we find the Father does the opposite: he runs full speed ahead, hugs the breath out of us, wets us with his tears, dresses us with his righteousness, gives us his platinum card, declares that we are fully accepted children and then throws a feast so everybody knows it. Why? He sees us in the same light as Jesus, the only and always faithful Son, whose praise and blessings become ours.
Family of God not only means we gain a Father, but also brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers. The families in which we grow up play a foundational and fundamental role, yet even the best of them falls short and is incomplete. No one family can impart or express the depth and diversity of God's family. Maybe you grew up as an only child or with strained sibling relationships, yet in the family of God you learn what it's like to have close brothers or sisters. Maybe you grew up with little connection to your father or mother, yet in the family of God you find yourself fathered or mothered in a healing way. Maybe you have no children of your own, but in the family of God your spiritual mothering or fathering changes the life of a child. Maybe you grew up in a family with very few other-culture friendships, but in the family of God you meet believers of every race, culture and class. This is what was so striking about the New Testament church. The surrounding culture couldn't fathom a family of Jew/Gentile, widow, orphan, married, single, rich, poor, religious, pagan, zealots, imperialists! The same is true today. When someone from outside the church walks into this kind of family they conclude: "This isn't natural, so it must be supernatural!"
What a household God is building! And, what an opportunity we have before us devoting the year to the theme Family of God!
Check out the other posts in this series on the Grace Downtown Blog: