Who is My Family?

"The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named" (Ephesians 3:14-15).

In this prayer Paul had the spiritual and universal community of believers very much on his mind. He said that this forever family had the Father’s name, and that some of the family are in heaven and that some are on earth. The rabbis of Paul’s day called angels the upper family and Israel the lower family. This idea may have molded Paul’s language.  What a family we belong to – it is made up of angels and loved ones!  Heaven becomes dearer to me the older I get, as more and more of the people I love go there!  Not long ago I visited a Christian at the point of death. “Say hi to my mother for me,” I whispered. She smiled and nodded.

Today the family structure is disintegrating. Divorce is rampant. This very week I got a letter from a teenager who had seen her parents split up; she was now being required to show allegiance to her “new” family. “But just who is my family?” she inquired. “I’m so confused. Is it my father and the woman he is living with, or my mother and her boyfriend? Or it is my grandmother with whom my little sister and I are living at the moment?”  

I couldn’t help her sort the mess out, but I could remind her that she belonged to a more secure family structure whose Head she could call Father and whose family members were her new sisters and brothers in Christ.  

If you are a Christian, you need never ask, “Who is my family?” You’ll know!