There has been more lessons from our Pastor that have been both challenging and stirring.
His new topic is about family. How the church is similar to a family setting.
He shared that in a family you build each other up, you stand beside each other, you take the time to listen and walk alongside your family if they need you.
The church is very similar. We are available to each other. If someone hurts, we hurt with them.
It is a community of ‘caring’ and that is what the church is representing.
Now in all fairness if you were raised in a broken home, a different setting like I was, the concept of family is disturbed or disrupted.
My dad left when I was a young age leaving me to grow up during the formative years without a dad’s opinion or input into my life.
We had grandma’s and grandpa’s and I don’t say they were not a great help; but in the heart of a child to have a parent’s approval and or love is healthy to one’s spirit.
It is nurturing. Healing and creates a wholeness that a broken home does not give.
The church can be a healthy home, or a dysfunctional home and I do believe my husband and I have experienced both kinds.
I generally leave if I feel the dissonance between word and behavior because of my gift of discernment.
I can tell if it is a ‘setting that is toxic’ pretty much right away.
A few times I have confronted a pastor or two which only led us to the point of leaving.
It is who I am, I value true and healthy relationships and if there is a point of discernment for me and my spirit is churning then it’s time to confront, change or leave.
Family is a bit different because you really can’t leave your relatives although some have tried.
Family is blood ties. It is inherited genes and whether we like it or not, we are related to those who we struggle with. I think that is why the church is very similar to family.
It teaches us to have compassion, to care, and most of all to forgive.
The new lesson from our pastor is about family and I think it will be a very powerful time of listening for us as he unpacks the words of truth.
Stay with me as I share more.