Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. (1 Thessalonians 2:7-8)
A Christian church is meant to be a like a family. I bet you’ve heard that before—a “church family.” Look at how Paul described his relationship with the Christians in Thessalonica: “Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you.” As their pastor, Paul’s relationship with them wasn’t like a boss to an employer or a doctor to a patient or a powerful army general to a lowly private. Instead, it was like a mother caring for her children. Loving them. Sharing life with them. A church family.
Of course, he didn’t come up with that on his own. The Bible says that we are children of God through faith in Jesus. If we are children of God, what are we to each other? Brothers and sisters!
Is that what you see at your church? A church family? I hope so! But I bet it isn’t always like that. Instead of a “family,” church can become a thing we do for an hour quick on Sunday mornings or Wednesday evenings. We try to get in and get out without having to take up too much time. We have lots of other important things to do, right? And then we complain: “I don’t connect with anyone at church. I don’t have any friends at church. No one seems to know me very well at church…”
Paul encourages a totally different approach. He tells Christians to share their lives together. Yes, that certainly includes being together in worship and Bible study. But it includes so much more. Sharing life together means spending time together, talking together, serving others together, sharing food together, bearing each other’s burdens together, picking each other up together.
When that happens in a Christian church, people don’t say, “I don’t connect with anyone.” They say, “It’s so good to be part of a family. It’s great to have people to care for, and to have people care for me.”
What could you do to help your church feel more like a family? What could you do to share your life with others, and encourage others to share their lives with you? Christians are delighted to share life together.
Dear heavenly Father, there are so many things that drive us human beings apart. Use Jesus’ grace and forgiveness to unite our church family, and show us how we can share our lives together. Amen.
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