Consider Yourself … A Preamble

Recently I was writing about the kind of environment conducive to genuine praise and genuine community engagement in the light of the ‘spiritual covering’ practice.  Read it for yourself by clicking for part one and part two.

One aspect of the argument was about how we’re more likely to be ourselves when we’re at home.  Funnily enough the whole journey of God’s relationship with people is to let them know that He’s looking for a home as well and that home is not in a tent, or a box, or a temple or in a multi-million pound facility, but among His people.

So if God wants to make His home among – in and through – His people what does that say about the nature of home?  What does that say about the expression of church that most embraces this concept?

Well I’m not answering that question at the moment, but they will form part of the journey I’m taking about church that will be fleshed out further in the coming weeks, months and years.

In the meantime, I was reflecting on what concepts of home and family mean to me now, and I thought it was worth documenting those considerations here as a benchmark for what’s happened to me over the years.

Family 1977-1996 – Wellingborough: The Formative Years

For the first eighteen years of my life family to me was simply my brother, sister, mother and father.  I had an uncle and aunt who were so titled not for biological linkage but through close relation to the family.  They also happened to be the ‘first couple’ of the church that we attended our Uncle Joe being Elder Pink.

Church was family in a way and not.  I remember going around the homes of one or two of the brethren and some visiting our home, but the engagement was mostly with my parents.  I recall the impact they made in church services and stuff which was great especially from those who have now fallen asleep.  (Thank you Lord for Brother Francick and Brother Alexander faithful stalwarts in your way and great examples to me in humility, steadfastness and determination in your Word.)

To all intents and purposes, though, my family was that core of people with whom I shared dwellings for that length of time.  It was only when I left home to go to university that I truly appreciated the tight-knit nature of the family.  So my understanding of family comes from those formative years.  I didn’t really know that much about the relational power of the extended family.  I was aware of my dad’s brother, Uncle Marty and my maternal grandmother.  We also made an ill-fated trip to Jamaica when I was 14/15, but I never felt any sense of a bond with my extended family, just a sense of obligatory respect for their connection to my parents.

The university years took me away from the family nest and the Wellingborough connection loosened quite considerably.  When my parents moved to Jamaica there was no real need or connection for me to return there other than for the odd nostalgic trip for old time’s sake.  For me this reinforced my perception of family as being the people with whom I grew immediately for those years.

So what happened from then and what is my current view now?  This will be explored in the upcoming blog series – Consider Yourself One Of The Family.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd