Part of a True Family

The Same Body

One of the interesting parts of traveling is the opportunity to visit other congregations of the body of Christ. In different cities, different states, even different countries we can meet fellow brothers and sisters who are a part of the same body. When greeting fellow Christians we are literally greeting our family, connected in a way more powerful than anything else in this world.

A Common Scenario

How often has a scenario similar to this taken place when you have traveled or talk with those visiting our congregation: Someone mentions a name or a place, and that name or place sparks a connection in your mind. You find out that they are also friends with an old friend of yours, or perhaps their children and yours met at school. This is even more common with preachers when we learn that someone who knew someone we went to school with married the couple who is visiting or they are now preaching at a congregation where someone’s sister or brother attends.

All of these scenarios are hypothetical, but have likely occurred at least once at this congregation. Such is the nature of our brotherhood, for better or for worse. The benefits of this tight knit relationships are beyond the understanding of those in the world, likened to the future family in heaven. Indeed, when we visit with our brothers and sisters and learn of these connections, all we are really doing is crossing paths as we each journey home. When one discovers they have a very real connection to someone thousands of miles away that they have never met before, the awesome nature of our God, His family, and the adoption we have received through Christ becomes very real.

A Minor Downside

However, there is one downside to having too many of these “connections,” albeit a minor one. For every time we meet a brother or sister who knows a brother or sister we know, or for every time we meet a face that is directly connected to us in some fashion in a temporal sense, there are literally millions of faces of those we are not connected to in any way who need to be connected to Jesus Christ.

Christians are a part of the greatest family in history: the family of God. How we are connected to one another may surprise, but how we are related is through the power of God. It is always encouraging to meet our “extended family.” We must just be careful to not make our family too inclusive.