“God places the solitary in families and gives the desolate a home in which to dwell; He leads the prisoners out to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.” Ps 68:6 (Amplified)
Long before the Psychologist Abraham Maslow theorised on his hierarchy of human needs, God, by His provision of the family, had conclusively proven the fact that He understood human nature more than anybody. According to Maslow, human needs follow this order of importance – physiological, security, social, esteem and self actualisation. Once a man’s basic needs for food, drink, clothes and housing have been satisfied, he then becomes concerned about his security and once he feels secure, he thinks about his place in the society, which in turn leads to his desire to be well regarded by his peers and finally the desire to attain his best.
The statement ‘man is a social animal’ accurately reflects man’s desire for acceptance by a group. It reflects the human need to belong. This desire is so strong in us that we will often pay a high price just to fit in and be accepted by our peers. Ordinarily, we are all socialised by reason of the fact that we are born into our ‘biological families’ (sharing common genes), which in the interim meets our need to belong before we begin to relate with the outside world. After this we start associating with other people with whom we share common characteristics and goals. These become our ‘logical families’ in the sense that we share common ideals. Our natural inclination to want to associate with others is part of our human make-up and failure to have this need met often results in loneliness, isolation and depression.
So, after giving us the gifts of His Son, the Holy Spirit, the Scripture and leaders, God has also given us the gift of a spiritual family – the Church, for it is in the context of the Church – local body of believers in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, that God expects a Christian to fellowship, be taught God’s word, corrected, encouraged, discipled and helped to grow to spiritual maturity. It is also the perfect place to discern and deploy for service the giftings with which God has blessed His children for the furtherance of His kingdom objectives. Consequently, a Christian who avoids the fellowship of other Christians in the context of a local Church setting is like fish out of water. He cannot function normally because he is out of his natural elements. Also, since there is safety in numbers, such a person is unduly exposed to spiritual and moral dangers because the family functions as a protective barrier and a place of safety for the individual.
However, like any of God’s wonderful gifts to mankind, the gift of a spiritual family has to be accepted before we can reap the benefits of belonging to the body of Christ. While our local family might not be perfect, and by the way, no family is perfect, we must appreciate the fact that God has placed us in that particular family for a specific purpose, which might or might not be apparent to us. So, even when your family is a pain to you, understand that God is using them to work out His plan and achieve His purpose both in you and through you. So, thank God for this wonderful gift because without the Church, we would be lonely and lost.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for my Church family into which you have placed me. I pray that you shall indeed make our hearts one so that nothing shall be impossible for us to accomplish to the glory of your name. Amen.