We can have a love-hate relationship with our families; sometimes we adore them, at others we would like a divorce. It can be a bit that way within the church family too! But the family of God’s people should be the most attractive community in the world.
In 1Corinthians chapter 12 and 13, Paul says that the church is one body of Christ, every member being deeply united with each other, like the members of our physical bodies. And that it is not dominated by the destructive forces that often mar our relationships, but is ruled instead by a perfect kind of love (1Corinthians 13:4-7).
We live in a world of anger, hatred and warfare. When people see a community of love that is patient, kind, that rejoices in the truth, that bears, believes, hopes and endures all things for the sake of others, it is the most powerful magnet in the universe.
Are we that kind of community?…
Through the grace, forgiveness and reconciliation of Jesus Christ, God has redeemed us from lovelessness and hatefulness to be a new kind of community – one dominated and shaped by His perfect love. This is God’s true family, into which He is inviting all families of the earth (Gen 12:3; Rev 21:24-26).
Mission is inviting all human beings into their true family; the one they most long for, though they may not know it. What a delight for us to show it to them!
Grace upon grace, Jonathan.