Defining the Family of the Household of Faith

Households of Faith
Today’s Focus: Defining the Family of the Household of Faith
Scripture: Ephesians 6:1; Matthew 12:47-50

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
The true family in the Earth is the House of God. It is the original family and the one that will exist at the end of time. Now what has happened is we have put too much stock in biological family and barely any in our spiritual family. For some, they extend themselves to clubs and organizations and within those clubs and organizations they call themselves family. The extending of oneself to these means and methods is simply searching for the true family which is the House of God. Listen…every endeavor of man through religion is to search for God, family and power (Kingdom of God). The out-sourcing of oneself to an organization (fraternity, sorority, secret society..etc), club and then within them there are these terms such as brother, sister, family is simply a cry out for the real thing, the House of God.

Another mistake and this happens all the time in the church is what I call the family succession of pastors. In other words, the position of pastor stays within a particular family. For example, grandpa starts the church, then daddy takes over then son takes over. Now let me explain so we are perfectly clear. I have no problem with a son succeeding his father because it happened in the Bible. For example, David and Solomon. But what I am saying is to just pass it down to keep the church under a particular family is WRONG!! If the son is not mature and called by God, He has no business succeeding his father. This has lead to generations of orphan pastors leading people. So the model we are presenting in the earth is broken and corrupt. But how can we as the Body of Christ show this concept of family living and acting through a religious prism. Let’s look at Jesus and how He defines the House of God!

Matthew 12:47-50: Then one said unto Him, Behold thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But He answered and said WHO IS MY MOTHER? AND WHO ARE MY BRETHERN? And He stretched forth His hand TOWARD HIS DISCIPLES, and said BEHOLD MY MOTHER AND BRETHERN! FOR WHOSOEVER SHALL DO THE WILL OF MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN, THE SAME IS MY BROTHER AND SISTER AND MOTHER.

Jesus defines the family, not as a fleshly lineage but as a spiritual family and they are the ones who do the Will of the Father. Hence the family that is most important is the spiritual family ACCORDING TO JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD AND SAVIOR!! I say that with emphasis because people get upset when truth is spoken and if you believe in Jesus Christ then you should also believe every word that He says and He said the family is those who do the Will of the Father!! Now watch this scripture because I have read it many times and the Lord really opened this up.

Ephesians 6:1: Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right!

Now Paul is speaking to the church at Ephesus. Earlier we see Jesus define the family as the sons of God who do the Will of the Father. So when Paul is speaking of children obeying your parents in the Lord, who is he speaking about? The first thing that caught my eye was the fact that Paul said “IN THE LORD” making a specific reference to spiritual parents!! Jesus already told us who the family is and Paul is now expounding on this in Ephesians 6. Now let me say this because somebody will take it to the extreme..

This does not mean that you can disrespect and completely disobey you natural biological family. God gave them to you to bring honor and grow through them bringing you up and teaching you about the Lord. However, when you come into the Body of Christ, you enter a higher order of family where it is not based on natural but spiritual. Can your natural parents be your spiritual parents when you come of age in the Body of Christ? Absolutely if the Lord desires! Keep in mind, no earthly relationship should supersede the relationship between yourself and God. You should allow HIM to order the spiritual relationships needed for growth.

For the sake of time and information we will continue this in part 2 of the series. This is such a vast subject and when you are able to download we do not want you to be overwhelmed with information. Please continue to study with us “Households of Faith”.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.