Transform Lives Through Church Family and Accountability

There are many of us that know what a good family is and have actually been blessed with a good family. There are some of us that have not been blessed with a good family and the thought of the church being a family does not seem like a great thing to be a part of. I get that. Let me just say that the type of family that the church should be is a family that everyone would be happy to be a part of.

The sad thing is sometimes the church acts more like a dysfunctional family than the family that brings honor to God. Not this church of course, but all those other messed up churches, with their gossiping, their busy bodies and their back stabbers.

There should never be a time in the Family of God that this takes place. The bible says, “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” When the church spends its time picking each other up and not knocking each other down then we will look like the family that God has called us to be.

Diving right in let’s look at just 2 verses from I Timothy chapter 5. Some of you do not treat your own brothers well, so, don’t act like that. Treat your brothers in Christ as someone that is worthy of your kindness and praise.

When I used to work at Gilster, one of my friends and I had, and still have to this day, nicknames for each other. He calls me Troublemaker Turner and I call him Backstabbing Burkhart. Now many of us would not grasp onto friendships that call each other names like that, but this seems to work for us and we both know that it is lighthearted.

Every once in a while, Mr. Burkhart will get a new phone number and he will text me or call me to let me know that he has a new number and me being the great friend that I am, I will ask him, if he is calling from jail and needs bailed out or been put in prison and this new number is the one in his cell block.

As we dig a little deeper, hopefully we will understand what it really means to be a family, in the since that we are the church! I have given Kyli a couple of questions to put in the bulletin and we are going to look at these a little closer. First question?

Why did God create the church to be a family?

A few years ago, there was a worldwide research done on the topic of what causes some people/nationalities to live more healthy lives and live longer than other nationalities. What they found was that one country, Japan, not only lived more healthy lives and more happy lives, but they also lived longer than other people in the world.

They dug and found what the key to this was relationships. The better relationships the deeper the connections the more health we try to live. Isn’t it interesting that it only took 6000 years to come up with the same thing that God said in the Garden. It is not good for man to be….alone.

One of the reasons that God created the church to be a family is…

a. To support you.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

There is about 100 times in the New Testament that the bible uses the phrase “one another”. I want you to look each one of those up, there will be a test next Sunday. Just kidding.

Listen to a few of these. Maybe you have heard them before…Are you ready? The big one… love one another. Honor one another. Accept one another. Greet one another. Submit to one another. Bear with one another. Comfort one another. Encourage one another.

How about the other side… Do not lie to one another. Do not slander one another. Do not grumble against one another.

If we want to be the Church which is a family, there is a lot to it. If you want to be a part of the church, part of the family, I can’t do it for you. God does that when you repent of your sins and ask God to be your Heavenly Father. The Father that truly guides your life, the one that you surrender control and allow Him to use you, then you will be part of the family.

b. To help you grow.

I Thessalonians 5:11

Have you ever looked at a field of corn? The corn in the middle, the corn that is surrounded by other corn grows the tallest. The corn on the outside, the corn that is next to the road or a different crop, doesn’t grow as tall. Some of them do not grow very big at all. Like the corn we need others to help us grow.

c. To help keep you accountable.

I Thessalonians 5:14

We all need someone in our lives to love us enough to tell us the truth. Someone that will push us to do the right thing, to hold to our commitments and to let us know when we fall short.

I love my wife, if anyone can find my flaws, it is her. I ain’t talking about my shirt needing ironed or my fly unzipped. I am talking about when she lets me know that what I said was not funny but it was actually mean. And that’s when I let her know that she wouldn’t know funny if it was standing right in front of her. I don’t like it, but it is something that I need from time to time. I won’t be a better follower if I don’t have someone to hold me accountable and neither will you.

d. To provide a place for you to use your gifts.

I Corinthians 12:7

We talked about this last week. That God has not called you to sit. He has called you to serve and you need to be obedient in serving God.

e. To help you experience the love and grace of God.

I John 4:12

I know that it is hard to believe, but I mess up from time to time. This week, I did it again. First time this year, so not so bad right? Not only did I cause stress and grief in one couple’s life, it rippled into other people’s lives as well. Instead of being the vessel, I was being a roadblock. I was teaching from the Holy Bible according to Pastor Mark.

When God revealed to me what I had done, I was already waste deep in it. I, went to those that I was a stumbling block to and asked for forgiveness, told them how sorry that I was and they showed me the love and grace of God and forgave me.

When I tell you that I will fail you, mean it. I will fail you. Not on purpose but because I am human and make mistakes. I need that love and grace of God just like you do.

What does it take to truly be a “family”?

a. It takes engagement.

Hebrews 10:24-25

So many “Christians” go to church on Sunday morning and never get involved in anything or anyone in the church. They will show up, exchange a few pleasantries and leave. Never really showing an interest in anything but checking the box of “went to church Sunday”.

We need to connect with one another and to get connected the next one we won’t like.

b. It takes vulnerability.

Galatians 6:2, James 5:16

When was the last time that you actually admitted to anyone that you had sinned? Many of us are “all good” with hearing other people admitting their sin, and we usually are good at forgiving, but we don’t want anyone to know about our mistakes.

c. It takes selflessness.

Philippians 2:4

I have been in church for most of my life. And let me tell you, church people can be very selfish. Church people tend to be pretty thin skinned and if they want something and don’t get it. They will pout, through a fit and sometimes quit coming. Church isn’t centered around you. Church isn’t centered around me. Church, I mean the real Church is centered around Jesus. Jesus was as selfless as can be.

I saw this the other day and want to share it with you. A church goer said, “I didn’t really like the worship time this morning.” “Well, that is okay because the church wasn’t worshiping you.”

d. It takes working through bad situations.

Colossians 3:13

People will leave the church because of someone else’s faults. People will leave the church because someone offended them. People will fail you. People will let you down. The bible says to forgive. It might be hard, but if we want to be forgiven, we must forgive.

Our church has seen some really bad situations in the church over the years. We have been low on money. We have had divisive pastors. We have had divisive people, but through it all we have held on, through the love of God to get through those bad situations. That’s what God calls His family to do. Are you part of God’s family?

We are the Church! We are a Family!