Monday Reflections...Watching the Church Family embracing its Family-ness

Remember the 1979 song, "We Are Family" performed by Sister Sledge?

We are family, I got all my sisters with me

We are family, Get up ev'rybody and sing

The Biblical model of the church is the picture of a family.  We are brothers and sisters in Christ.  We are to rejoice with those who are rejoicing and we are to weep with those who are weeping.  There is a love between us because of the love that has been put in us by God for each other.  It is most evident when someone of the family is physically hurting.

At the moment, a dear sister of the church is facing a physical battle.  She is a wife and a mother with children still in the home.  She is a professional woman with a career in the area of helping others to find greater independence.  Her life in the church not only includes service with the gifts that God has given her but also the many friendships that have grown over the years, mutually giving and receiving.  

I watched the church embrace its "family-ness" yesterday.  I saw people weeping with those who are weeping.  I experienced an outpouring of "what can we do" and a willingness to respond immediately to the need.  It is a beautiful thing to see and the church is working rightly when our hearts as so moved to action.

Before I switch gears in the midst of this blog, I would ask if you would pray with me for my dear sister in the Lord named Lisa and her family.

We respond quickly to the physical need of another in the family of God but do we respond to the spiritual need?  I have found a hesitancy to respond appropriately when a spiritual hurt has occurred.  We go into silence when a spoken word might be needed or we speak a word outside the bounds of Biblical guidelines and delay the appropriate reconciliation and restoration that could happen.  

Does our love extend to our brother or sister in the Lord when the issue is spiritual and not physical?  When you wander into this arena, my opinion is that your relationship would display even more of what God speaks of in the Scriptures.  He calls us to pray for one another but many times it is talking about spiritual matters and not physical ones.  

Is there a conversation that you need to have with a brother or sister in the Lord that if you don't have it, you are relying on time to heal the wound, which is inferior and not complete, rather than God's instructions on asking for forgiveness or for forgiving others?  Is there a burden on your heart for someone in God's family to pray for their spiritual wellness?  

Will you sign up and take a spiritual meal to them 

of a listening ear (the appetizer), 

a reading of Scripture (the main course), 

and a shared prayer time (the dessert)?

As much as I love to see the church family respond so quickly to the physical needs of each other, I love to see that same family respond appropriately to the spiritual needs when they arise and they will.  A recent event in my life with another brother in Christ showed me again how beautiful it is when we follow His instructions to repent and confess so that the family of God stays strong for His glory.

Adam