I saw an article the other day with the title: “Stop Calling The Church A Family“. The argument being made by the author was that the Bible doesn’t call the church a family, and using the term sets the bar too high for most congregations to achieve.
As someone who has been reading through the Bible every year since 2012 – the New Testament twice a year – as part of the RMM Bible Reading plan, my jaw hit the floor. The Bible doesn’t refer to the church as a family?
What about Mark 3:31-33?
And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:31-35 ESV)
What about Mark 10:29?
Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Mark 10:29-30 ESV)
What about 1 Timothy 5:1-2?
“Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.” (1 Timothy 5:1-2 ESV)
What about 1 Timothy 3:4-5?
“He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” (1 Timothy 3:4-5 ESV)
What about 1 Timothy 3:15?
“if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15 ESV)
The fact that there isn’t a verse that says: “The church is a family” is irrelevant. There isn’t a verse that says “God is a Trinity” either, but “Trinity” is the perfect word to describe what the Bible says about the inner relations of the Godhead and likewise, the word “family” is the perfect word to describe what the Bible says about the relationships that characterize life in the church.
So no, I will not stop referring to the church as a family.
In fairness, the article makes a bit of a circuitous journey to the same basic conclusion. It says that we shouldn’t call the church a family, because that creates a sense of expectations for people coming in that the church is often unable to meet. It ends by saying we should try to turn the church into a household first before advertising the church as a family.
Again, I have to respectfully disagree.
We don’t refuse to refer to the church as a community of grace because we often fail to show adequate grace, rather we use the term, we speak the truth, and through union with Christ and supplies of his Spirit we grow into our identity and inheritance.
In the Bible sanctification is about slowly but surely becoming who we are.
And by the grace of God we are a family.
Now let’s start acting like one.
O God help!
If you are interested in more Bible teaching from Pastor Paul you can access the entire library of Into The Word episodes through the Audio tab on the Into the Word website. You can also download the Into The Word app on iTunes or Google Play.