What if the Church was a Family?
I often chew on a thought for a long time, trying to solve a problem or trying to sort out my thoughts so I can actually write it down. Yet, no matter how long I think about it, I still have trouble writing it out in the best way so others can understand what I am saying. Therefore, I am just going to try to say what I want to say and hope that you will understand.
My thought is: what if Christian single men and women conversed with each other as brothers and sister in Christ? I see a lot of young singles who go round flirting with the opposite sex. Then there is the other side of the spectrum where the men stay with the men and the women stay with the women. I highly disapprove of the flirtatious type, yet I don’t agree with the segregation either. Also I see a lot of age segregation. It seems that in many churches today the older married women will talk with other older women, the younger married women have their little group, the children have their group, the singles their group, and etc. What would happen if we mixed up all these ages, so the young and the old could be in the same group? I think we would end up with more mature children and young adults. We would be seeing the older men and women teaching the younger ones as we are told in Titus 2. The younger adults would be more prepared for marriage when that time comes. The singles could get to know the opposite sex without having to date.
I have been blessed with a couple friends who are godly young moms. I love being around these moms, learning from them, listening to them, talking to them. They treat me like an adult and that makes me feel comfortable talking to them. Yet, I also have friends who are several years younger than me. I enjoy being with them, too. I think they are blessed that I would be their friend even though I am so many years older than them. I have the opportunity to be a godly example to them and I try my best to be so. I also have friends who are closer to my age who I love being with and talking to. Yet, I have very few guy friends, who talk to me as a sister in Christ.
I guess what I am trying to say is that the church is suppose to be a family. Everyone is suppose to work together, be there for each other, and build one another up, yet there is all this segregation. In my family there are four boys (three living) and five girls, plus Mom and Dad. We are all different ages. The oldest of us children is 25 and the youngest is 7, yet we all love being with each other, talking to each other, and playing games with each other. So what if the church learned to do that, too. What if the church stopped being segregated into age groups like a school? What if the church obeyed the Titus 2 command for the older to teach the younger? What if the young singles could speak to each other as brothers and sisters? What if the church lived like one big family?
Well, these are just a few of my thoughts that I wanted to pass on to you. What do you think about the issue? Do you see this age segregation in your church? I would love it if you left a comment and put in some thoughts of your own.
Thanks for reading! ;)
Hmmm... Good point. I think church is a family and just like in all families, not everything is the same across the board. My older children like to do some activities together, and the younger ones do things that others don't really enjoy. Sometimes the older ones join in, but just for the sake of the younger ones. And Tommy and I like to spend time together doing things no one else wants to do too! Sometimes, we all do things together. Other times, we are all doing the same task, but each person operates according to their gifts and strengths-like dinner time.
ReplyDeleteI like talking with younger women, and older women, etc...but, I REALLY like home group where we are all similiar in Stage of Life so that we can relate closely, understand one another, and hold each other accountable in a way that a mixed group wouldn't do.
But, the Church is not the meeting on Sunday. The Church is everyone who is in Christ like my neighbor who loves the Lord, the struggling separated mom I'm befriending, the teacher of my children's classes, etc...We are to teach, exhort, love, and help one another. It is a lifestyle of looking around and choosing to take the time to reach out.
I'm so glad to see you writing! Keep it up!
Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts! I enjoyed reading what you wrote! ;)
DeleteI defently agree with you Hannah. Yes, I do see this at my church but also I feel like there are certin people who do treat me like an adult.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Maggie
I agree with what you have said here, Hannah. It would be nice for us to stop segregating ourselves by gender and age and actually reach out to those across those barriers in order to become more united as the body of Christ. If brothers and sisters in Christ, especially, would take a leap and talk to one another just for the sake of friendship, I feel that we would be able to build each other up and encourage one another. At my church, there seems to be an unwritten rule of gender segregation for the singles. I wish there was more opportunity for guys and girls to get to know each other and interact with one another so that we could live out Christ's love and all be friends. And I also appreciate learning not only from my mother, but also from older women in the church. I enjoying pouring into the lives of younger girls as well. This post has really left me with something to think about!
ReplyDelete