Bridging the Gap as a Family

Sunday, October 21, was a great family reunion. After our regular three services, during which we find ourselves segregated at opposite ends of the building for various reasons, we came together to ordain deacons, an elder, and a minister. There were children, teens, young adults, parents, and grandparents all sitting together, singing together, celebrating together.
Paul tells us in Romans 8 that the Holy Spirit himself testifies that we are a family, that we are children of God. We can find the language of family all throughout the New Testament. Paul and other writers refer to each other and to us as brothers and sisters. There ?s no question that the church is one big extended family.
OK, we know what our families are like behind closed doors, and sometimes our church family acts the same way. But that ?s not what God intended, for either family. Our brother John gives us this advice in 1 John 3:18: ?Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. ? Sure, we say we love each other, but do we act like we do all the time? We ?re not perfect, and I know that I ?m not as lovable as I ought to be, but we need to act more like the children of God. There needs to be something different about this family because there ?s certainly something different about our Father, and he wants to adopt everyone into this family!
How do we do it? Let ?s start with some advice from brother Paul in Philippians 2:14, 15: ?Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe. ? First, we need to try to get along with each other better; find our common ground and start there ?October 21 was a great start! Second, we need to encourage each other as we become blameless and pure. Last we need to shine like stars so that the world can see that the church family is different. In these ways we can bridge the gap as a family.