Family

I was challenged and refreshed by a statement that Alan & Deb Hirsch made at the Live Sent Conversation last week in Lakeland.  They stated that our current conservative, American view of family isn't the same as the meaning usually conveyed by Scripture.  The "nuclear" family of husband, wife, two kids and a dog (you get the picture) is not the same family that was represented when Scripture uses that word.  Most of the time when you read the word "family" in Scripture the meaning is larger than the nuclear family that we have grown accustomed to.  Other renderings would be household, clan, tribe, group of families, or even nation.



Think about a couple of examples.  When Jacob moved his family from Haran back to Canaan and met his brother Esau on the way, Esau asked him, "Who are all these with you?"  Esau had to ask because he had wives, children, many servants, and many animals traveling with him.  Abraham traveled this way, and Jacob would do it again when joining Joseph in Egypt.  Another example is when Paul and Silas were in jail and had an opportunity to minister to the jailer and his household.  "The jailer brought them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God - he and his whole family."  Family and household are used interchangeably here, including servants and other relatives that weren't necessarily part of the nuclear family.

In reality, most cultures around the world recognize family in this way, expansive and inclusive.  We in America are some of the few that view family in such a limited and exclusive way.  This was very refreshing to me because over the past three years Kim and I have lived in such a way as to include our neighbors as a part of our family and it has been so good.

Just recently we traveled together as a neighborhood family or tribe on field trips to local church gatherings.  It was so cool to show up to a church gathering with a crowd of our own.  I felt like Jacob showing up to meet Esau, a bit nervous, but knowing I was surrounded by family and meeting others who were also family.  When we enlarge our definition of family, we engage the world around us in ways that we probably would not otherwise.  May we see the world around us as a part of our family and invite them into our lives and into our homes.
Blessings,
Shiloh