“So then you are no longer as those who have no part or place in the kingdom of God, but you are numbered among the saints, and of the family of God.” Eph 2:19 (BBE)
I’ve been reading an excellent book that was loaned to me by one of our church members; “Forgotten God” by Francis Chan. I want to share a brief passage from the book about the Church:
“A while back a former gang member came to our church. He was heavily tattooed and rough around the edges, but he was curious to see what church was like. He had a relationship with Jesus and seemed to get fairly involved with the church.
“After a few months, I found out the guy was no longer coming to the church. When asked why he didn’t come anymore, he gave the following explanation: ‘I had the wrong idea of what church was going to be like. When I joined the church, I thought it was going to be like joining a gang. You see, in gangs we weren’t just nice to each other once a week – we were family.’ … It saddened me to think that a gang could paint a better picture of commitment, loyalty and family than the local church body.”
Chan goes on to say, “Without the Spirit of God in our midst, working in us, guiding us, and living and loving through us, we will never be the kind of people who make up this kind of community.” (p.152)
I think Francis Chan has hit the nail on the head. People are looking for community; they are looking for family. They can and will find it in the world, if they don’t find it in the church.
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