The Family of God

Galatians 3:26-29 NKJV “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Isn’t it interesting to think about how we perceived things when we were children?  I remember a story from my growing up days at Kentucky Mountain Bible College.  One of the little children at the Bible College campus entreated his mother.  “Mommy, sing the Paulo song.”  The child’s mother didn’t know what he meant.  All she could think of was our Kentucky Mountain Holiness Association president, Dr. Karl Paulo, and she didn’t know any song by him or about him.  But the child was insistent.  “Mommy, sing the Paulo song.”  Finally, the mother asked the child to sing it for her, and it went something like this, “Paulo, Paulo, I will Paulo Jesus.”

On another occasion, a child in the same family was asked to call in a pizza order to Variety Pizza in Jackson.  He did, listened to Freeman Back’s greeting as he answered the phone, and promptly hung up. 

His family looked at him quizzically, and said, “Why didn’t you order any pizza?” 

The child responded, “The man said, ‘We’re out of pizza.’”

You see, Mr. Back had said, “Variety pizza!”

Family.  What does it mean to be part of the “family of God?”  Being part of the family of God means that there are no divisions in the Body of Christ, we have unity in Christ, and we have membership in God’s family.

I remember talking to a young pastor. He was serving a rural, all-white, congregation. His heart for evangelism was stirred by the spiritual needs of lost people in the community. He began reaching out to the children of the community. The children’s program began to grow.  But the adults began to complain. They did not approve of bringing children of color into their church.  Board members resigned, the children’s pastor resigned, the senior pastor resigned, and the church went into crisis.

Is this the family of God?

The Apostle Paul had a burden for evangelism and missions.  His burden propelled him to reach out to people who were different from himself in culture, language and race.  Paul, a Jew, became the pre-eminent evangelist and missionary to the Gentile world.  Paul’s example provided him with the credibility to call the church, Body of Christ, to be without tribal, language, national and skin color prejudices.  Paul saw each person as a living and eternal soul, precious in the sight of Creator God, and in need of salvation.

Paul contrasts two occupations: slaves and free. Slavery was a very real part of Paul’s world. Often, Christians would find themselves side by side with other Christians in church whom they knew in their everyday life as “master” or “slave.” Paul seems to be saying that when you come to church, you check your occupation based ego at the door. Don’t treat other members of the Body of Christ with greater or less honor because of their occupation or status. The church must move beyond using the world’s measures of wealth, status, power, prestige, and occupation as the basis of measuring another person’s worth.

In this context, Paul proclaims that men are not better than women, nor are women better than men.  In the Body of Christ, both male and female are needed. He recognizes our God-given differences as beautiful and essential for healthy family living in the Body of Christ.

“The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church.  The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with His presence” (Ephesians 1:22-23 MSG).

Being part of the family of God means that there are no divisions in the Body of Christ and that we have unity in Christ.

What is this unity to which we are called to live in the Body of Christ?

Well, unity is not union. Someone once said that you can tie two cats together by the tail and throw them over a fence. You have union, but not unity.

Just because we share a brand does not mean we have unity. We have watched various American mainline churches struggle with a lack of unity regarding essential Biblical and theological truths. They often fight like two cats tied together and thrown over a fence. Flash points of the Authority of scripture, Creation, and human sexual identity are among the prominent ones currently dividing our churches. Often, episcopal leadership appears more committed to union than to unity. The terms are erroneously manipulated and interchanged. Clergy become idolatrously indentured to a pension and an appointment. Bishops become more committed to holding together a warring union than to seeking true unity through the unifying fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Unity is not uniformity. Uniformity is about external conformity. It often takes the form of identifying rules of lifestyle, dress, diet, and entertainment. These rules usually originate from a concern and commitment to disciple believers in holiness and righteousness. In the early stages if an organization, many people are often better discipled because of the rules. Over time, our human tendency is to make checklists of the external rules of conformity, all too often losing the spirit of holiness and righteousness that birthed them. The rules are often formed in a time and space that seemed to make them a necessity. Culture changes over time. Pastors and church leaders default to law enforcement, seeking to guarantee uniform compliance with organizationally-constructed rules for holiness.  The rules appear less relevant to making true disciples of Jesus Christ, yet they are retained. In the process, true holiness is often obscured, and eventually may be altogether lost.

Unity is not unanimity. Reasonable, Spirit-filled, people will disagree. Church history records many conflicts over orthodoxy and orthopraxy. Believing and doing the right thing has always been the challenge. Strong wills clash.

All too often, we substitute union, uniformity, and unanimity for true unity. Union, uniformity, and unanimity are just easier. We can create them in our own strength. Unity is other-worldly. It is hard. Unity is Spirit-wrought oneness. Only God can bring genuine unity into our faith and fellowship, and it comes by paying a high price of sacrifice, earnest prayer, and deep faith.

The Word of God calls the church of Jesus Christ to the cross where we must die to ourselves. Only then can unity begin to have an opportunity to grow and flourish.

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 NKJV).

I find it fascinating that as Jesus faced the cross, His consuming passion was for His followers to experience unity through His sanctifying Presence. He prayed for our sanctification by truth.

“Sanctify them through thy truth, thy Word is truth” (John 17:17).

Then Jesus prays for our unity.

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:20-23 NKJV).

Truth must precede unity. Unity cannot exist in an atmosphere of false teaching. Jesus teaches that unity is based upon truth. If false doctrine, false teaching, and false beliefs abound, idolatrous substitutes of union, uniformity, and unanimity proliferate. An atmosphere of false teaching makes control freaks out of leaders. They have to maintain the façade. They feel compelled to keep up appearances. Calls for unity are repeated. But unity never happens. Unity is dependent upon the Holy Spirit. He will not dwell where false teaching abounds.

Pentecost answered the prayer for unity.

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4 NKJV).

Personal and corporate Pentecosts are still the source for the Church’s unity today. As we heed Christ’s call to the cross and die to ourselves we may be filled with the Holy Spirit by faith. Such abandonment of personal promotion, agendas, and pride is essential to receive the Holy Spirit and live in His fullness.

We frequently use the metaphor of the family of God. We conjure warm, fuzzy, sentimental notions of a spiritual reality that fail to match the call to the cross. Being part of the family of God means that there are no divisions in the Body of Christ, that we have unity in Christ, and we have membership in God’s family. Why? Because we have died to ourselves. Jesus is first. We have been filled with the Holy Spirit. We live this faith life together.

Are you part of the family of God?