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Family - It's Bigger Than You Think!

Nathan Martin

I'm proud of my family. My wife Lori is the most beautiful woman on the face of the earth. Like the Bible says, "He who finds a wife finds a good thing."  I've definitely found a good thing in Lori. And my girls are the smartest and prettiest girls you ever did see! The arrows in my quiver are beautiful! (I'll admit this is all from my perspective!)

But my family is bigger than just the five of us. I'm blessed to have a wonderful father and mother who taught me the ways of the Lord from a very early age. I also have a younger brother that I admire for his ability to do anything and a younger sister that I admire for her beauty and intelligence. Both of them are married to really neat people and each couple has wonderful children. I'm blessed to be the uncle of my brother and sister's 5 1/2 children. (My sister's pregnant!) Then there's my grandfathers and grandmothers. And of course, don't forget my wife's parents, 5 brothers and sisters and 14 (plus or minus) nieces and nephews. My family gets bigger with every sentence!

In the same way, our Christian family is a lot bigger than you think, too! We sometimes get the feeling that our Christian family consists of the people who attend the same worship services that we do. Then we go to a denominational gathering and we realize, "they're family, too!" Just because we don't worship in the same building doesn't mean we're not family! Then we go to some Christian concert or conference and we see other believers who worship differently and we realize, "they're family, too!" Then we hear a missionary talk about "natives" accepting Jesus in a foreign country and we realize, "they're family, too!" Wow! Our family is bigger than we thought!

One of the interesting things about families is that every individual doesn't look or act exactly the same. They may have similar traits and characteristics, but each individual is ... well ... individual! And that's what's so neat. We don't have to look alike, talk alike, eat alike, dress alike to be family. We are family. Period. Our differences make us interesting but our common bond of knowing who our father is keeps us together.

As we look around this great big body of Christ we see a lot of individuality. There are people who dress differently, talk differently, look differently, worship differently, etc. But we all have one Father! And that Father loves us all very much, even though we are all so very different. In fact, I think the Father actually enjoys our diversity. He's the One who created hundreds of variations of flowers. He's the One who created the millions of colors. He's the One who decided the world just wouldn't be complete without a duckbilled platypus, one of the weirdest animals in the world with the webbed feet and bill of a duck, the body of an otter and a beaver's tail. As odd as that seems to us, when God got through creating the platypus He said, "It is good!"

I need to remember the duckbilled platypus when I see believers that are different from me. Just because they're different doesn't mean they're wrong ... or that I'm right. In fact, I may be a duckbilled platypus to them!!!

I was discussing denominations with a Christian brother some years ago and I still remember the look of shock on his face when I said, "I think denominationalism is a good thing!" Of course I wasn't talking about the schisms or attitudes of superiority that we sometimes see. I was thinking of the distinctiveness of each denomination as being an expression of God. When I look at the different churches and denominations (that name the name of Jesus), I see in each one a picture of truth. God clusters His people together the way He wants to (cf 1 Cor 12:18). And while each cluster has a different aroma, together we make an incredible bouquet for the Lord.

So next time you see someone who names the name of the Lord and yet doesn't look like you, act like you, dress like you, talk like you ... just remember, if He has called on the name of Jesus, he's probably kin! Because your family is bigger than you thought! 

Nathan Martin is the Associate Pastor of Christian Challenge and the director of the School for Christian Workers. He served four years as a missionary to southern Mexico before returning to minister with his father at CCI. He oversees the worship and technology ministries and teaches the High School group along with his wife Lori. They have three daughters, Joi, Faith and Hope.