I want to start my first post in a while with a shameless plug. For those of you who don't do so start reading 4thanddone.com. It is my newest favorite blog, and happens to be authored by my brother. It's all about sports (mainly football), but his musings are both worth reading and hilarious at the same time. It always promises to get me laughing because I am one of the few people who truly appreciate his humor. It reminds me of the laughs we shared as kids, which were numerous...

...Actually, my plug serves as a nice segue into today's ramblings. Teaching has kept me extremely busy over the last couple of weeks. My free time is spent planning, grading, and thinking about doing those things. Thankfully, God's grace continues to sustain me despite my tendency to lack perseverance.

As a part of His grace, I was able to make the long (1:40 is long to me) trek home as we celebrated the coming birth of my first niece/nephew. Physically, the weekend was exhausting. My aforementioned brother ran the male members of my family into the ground with 3 hours of basketball followed by 2 of football. My body is still sore, but the time spent was well worth it. Spiritually (emotionally, or whatever you want to call it), the weekend was fulfilling. For me, there are few things in this world better than time with my family (extended as well seeing as my cousins also joined the festivities). We may fight and argue, but those soon fade as we laugh, play, encourage, and enjoy our time together. As we have gotten older and distances further, the time proves sweeter as we push through shallow pleasantries straight towards God-designed fellowship. God fills us with what He created us for through the love displayed when we are together.

In spite of the joy I experienced over the weekend, I still came away with a sense of grief. Why does the family of God not reflect how I interact with my family? What is so different about a biological family that makes the spiritual family less significant? Some say it is because of the wide array of opinions, perspectives, and backgrounds represented in the body of Christ. While I acknowledge these, a biological family struggles with them as well. Ask any member of my family about one particular issue, and you will get a variety of responses. We butt heads all the time without letting our love falter (though it can get pushed to the brink).

Ephesians 2:19: So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

This isn't another call for unity, because I think those calls miss the heart of the issue. Instead, it is a call for a building inspection. We have built immaculate houses with inadequate foundations. If, and when, we establish Christ as our cornerstone, meaningless arguing within the family of God (established through the life, death, resurrection, and glorification of Jesus Christ) will cease. We will look for opportunities to foster familial relationships demonstrating horizontally what we already are vertically. Will we agree on every jot and tittle? No. Will every time together be sweet? No. Will sin be wiped out? No. What will happen is fewer splits over personal convictions and more sharpening of biblical doctrine. We will experience the fellowship God created us for along with fellowship we all desperately desire. Who knows, maybe we will actually believe it when we sing "I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God..."