God's Family

I have been thinking a lot about family lately, both physical and spiritual, and observing what passes for both in most cases today. I thought I would share what has been going through my mind, as there are several things about this subject that are weighing on my mind. It seems that the world in general, including much of the church, has forgotten the definitions of some very important terms. I don't mean the dictionary definition, although in many cases that also has been changed; I mean the way God defined the roles and institutions described by these words. The word "family" itself has become so twisted and abused that I think we desperately need to return to the scripture to determine what God had in mind for that institution.
All of us in the church know that in the beginning God created one man and one woman, and that this first couple had children, and that they as a group were the first family. We teach this basic concept even in our nursery classes. However, if these basic facts were all that was necessary to create family, why is it that so many families falling into disfunction and disrepair, even in the church? If the word family merely describes a unit group of parents and children, or even expands to include grandparents and extended relatives, why is it that God described the church as a family? What is the connection? Thinking of the church as a family, why do Christian brothers and sisters care so little for the state of the church family? Why are so many of our children "dying out" of the church? I think if we spent some time breaking down God's plan for family and searching out his definitions of some key words related to family, we might find a terrifying answer.
For the next few weeks, as I have opportunity, I plan to do a series of posts in search of the Biblical concept of family and all that goes with it. I will look at words like "parent," "child," "brother/sister," "husband/wife," "love," "communicate," "edify," etc. Stay tuned, and please contribute thoughts from you own study for my benefit.