Saturday, July 26, 2014

Family Life

We are called to relationship with God.  We are called to become part of his family. And if we accept this invitation,  we are charged to keep the family rules.

All families have rules.  They affect relationships within the family.  (How family members are supposed to treat each other.) They affect relationships between members of the family and those not in the family.  (How do members represent the family. How do members treat those not in the family. ) They affect responsibilities. (Family life needs to be maintained.  Members get "chores" and "roles.")  And each member is supposed to be involved in all of these. Each member maintains relationships with the Father and other family members. Each member is a "commercial" for the family. (They explain and demonstrate what the Father is like,  and what family life is all about.) And each member is a janitor and an ambassador.

But each member's janitor\ambassador duties might be different. One might mop the floors and work in an inner city soup kitchen. One might help prepare meals and provide hospitality (meals, rides, interpretation) for international students. And a large part of all of it is training. One needs to prepare members to use mops and potato peelers, share Jesus' message with an infinitely diverse audience, connect with the Father, hear\understand him directly, and give healing to hearts, minds and bodies.

And things change. Rules and responsibilities morph. I have gone from doing everything (some involvement in every meeting and every project) to very little involvement.

Sometimes, I think the drastic change with what I was doing with what I am doing is due to burn out. A human being can only burn the candle at both ends for so long. Eventually, you run out of candle. Sometimes, I think I am being lazy. And sometimes, I think the expectations and mind-set of those providing the training and direction do not challenge the rest of the family enough. Expectations are that only some of the family do the work. In some local families, the leaders expect to do all the work. In some, the leaders pioneer all the work and do encourage others to join. But there is no the right timing, motivation or preparation for others to participate. And in some projects, there is not enough roles. And in other projects, there is need for millions of workers, but only for a short intense period.

The family grows and flourishes as each member performs his part. There is blessing as each member performs his part. If some are working hard, some doing nothing and some doing a little, there will be little growth. Does each person need to search long and hard about where his\her place is? Do we need spiritual career counseling? 

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