The Family of God

The body of Christ, as we call the community of those who believe in Jesus Christ, is more than a social group. A body is an intimately united and complex whole made of symbiotic parts. We need each other in the body of Christ; we by necessity have mutual dependence. We are family. I love being in my community with other believers in the United States, but this summer had a different objective for me.

I chose to spend last month alone in Costa Rica. I came by myself. I rented a small, isolated house for solitude. Even so, I wasn’t trying to cut myself off from the Body of Christ. I need community. Coming to Costa Rica alone helped me experience Christian community in a new way, as I recount in the following observations and stories…

When I am in a more secular context, the joy I feel when I meet Christians around the world is increased.
When I find an English speaker, especially with a warm American accent, after having to communicate in Spanish or with body language, I can talk at ease; similar is the peace I find in conversation with another believer. Like the pride I feel for my country gazing upon the embassy of the United States of America, so the confidence I feel in my faith looking at a cathedral. We feel a connection with things familiar to us more poignantly while in a foreign context, but the connection to other Christians goes deeper--a connection of souls. 

Characteristics of the Family

The community of those who profess a belief in Jesus Christ is a family. We use familial terms—brother, sister, mother, father. We operate in a gift economy; we give tithes and gifts generously without requiring reciprocity. These are not commercial transactions (and shouldn’t be, for the church loses her identity when she becomes a business).

In the family of God we can immediately trust each other and desire to get to know each other, even if we’ve never met, just as you extend yourself to someone who shares your blood and DNA at a family reunion. Churches are like the homes of my relatives—I’m welcome there, as if I belong and have part-ownership.

I went to a couple of churches for a few weeks in a Costa Rican city near the Jungle House. No churches there were in English, so I found it a bit hard to follow the sermons and communicate with others. But I did find joy in the one day a week where I had an immediate community of people I’d never met. The Iglesias helped give me a sense of what the Lord told the Apostle Paul in Acts: “For I have many in this city who are my people” (18:10).

Unexpected Brothers

One evening after watching the sunset on the beach, a young, Californian surfer dude took notice of my Biola shirt. Immediately we were in a greatly encouraging conversation, discovering commonality of purpose in being here to learn God’s Word and sharing a joy for getting to be a part of His mission. I never saw James again, but our exchange heartened my spiritual life all week. Perhaps the best part of meeting James was that he introduced me to another “hermano”—a brother in Christ—Juan, whose fruit stand we had been standing under.

Juan, a middle-aged Tico with a loveable potbelly and a gentle, irresistible smile in a stubble beard, quietly moves around his frutería as he works and interacts with buyers and sellers. One day while waiting for the bus I ducked under Juan’s canopy to avoid the rain and buy a plantain. I asked him very simply in Spanish, “So you believe in Jesus Christ?” His answer, as he put his hand over his heart and his eyes teared up with deepest sincerity, I will never forget: “Es mi todo.” When Juan, a man of few words, said “He’s my all,” he conveyed that Jesuscristo is all he lives for, all that has sustained him through hardship, all his hope in life. I’m trying to make him my all too.

On another beach day, after talking with different people searching for spiritual significance apart from the God of the Bible, I stopped by Juan’s fruit stand and with sadness mentioned to him, “There aren’t many Christians around here.” Juan was the only other Christian I knew in town. He nodded with understanding, then gave me a reply that was the exact encouragement I needed, quoting Jesus’ words: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20). That’s powerful. Even with different languages, cultures, backgrounds and ages, Juan and I had in each other a bond in Jesus Christ that stirs the soul.

The Search for Donald

The day I was discouraged by the lack of Christians in my little surfer beach town, I had actually been hoping to find a missionary from the U.S. who I’d heard about through a new neighbor. She said Donald and his young family helped transform a small community with love and described something about this family of Christians made her take notice. I was so desperate to find the brother in Christ I’d even asked a random guy at the coffee shop if he was Donald, perchance, thinking he matched the description I’d been given. I prayed the entire week that somehow I’d be able to meet Donald. I needed the encouragement of my family in Christ.

On the eve of leaving my quiet corner of Costa Rica, I walked along the beach and stared out at where the river pushes itself into the ocean with colliding currents and waves. As the rains came and soaked my body and my jeans, I stood questioning why God wouldn’t let me meet Donald. I don’t know what gave me such a strong desire to find him, but I felt confident I would meet him and had not been able to. His phone hadn’t work when I’d tried to call; I couldn’t find him in the streets of the small beach town. Now I was wet and discouraged.

Finally, the morning I was to take buses back to the capital, San José, I tried Donald’s number one more time. He picked up. I told him of our mutual friend, and inquired if we could meet before my afternoon bus. He told me he would be leading a basketball camp the next town over from the hostel where I’d stayed. Perfect! I walked the 4 kilometers to the school and came up to the group as complete stranger. But I was warmly welcomed by a pastor from the mission trip group working with Donald. I got to meet the team of Americans from a Baptist church in Georgia and talk with a few of their pastors—Oh how encouraging! I walked into a family reunion after only expecting to find one brother!

Eventually I did get to meet Donald. With great gratitude to God, I got to share with Donald a love for Costa Rica and a heart for the people. Donald isn’t a missionary superstar; he’s more than aware he hasn’t been to seminary and his Spanish isn’t great. He calls himself an amateur, but humility is exactly what makes Donald exceptional. He’s a guy from the pews who followed his faith to the point of packing up his family and moving to a foreign country to love people with the good news of Jesus Christ. He’s faithful, and he has a heart for people.

After a sincere, meaningful prayer with Donald, two of the pastors drove me back to get my stuff for the bus and listened to me tell stories of God’s faithfulness in my life as they blessed me with lunch and $20. I didn’t deserve any of it. I’m just a child of a God who has a whole lot to give.

Ana’s Hospitality

Back in San José that evening, I was again welcomed into Ana’s house. Ana is the one who left work to pick me up from the airport when I first arrived in Costa Rica, and helped orient me and get my bus to the jungle house. She’s wonderful, and is a sister in Christ. I’d never even met Ana before coming to her country; she welcomed me with motherly care because of an email from my aunt, who knew Ana when her family lived in Costa Rica as missionaries.

Ana exhibited the best of hospitality while I was with her. She bought my dinners, made me impressive breakfasts, packed my lunch to-go. She gave up her room for me (though I didn’t know this for sure until I facebooked her nephew after I left). She worked her schedule around me, even taking two half days off work to show me around San José. She even gave me gifts: a coffee thermos and an LED keychain flashlight.

Ana didn’t have anything to gain by her generosity to me. She was just being faithful to use her life and resources as God’s. I have a lot to learn about being in the family of God from a more mature believer like Ana.

I love being in the family of God. I love the fellowship of other believers. I love that this community is spread all over the earth, where I can show up in countries and find that God has people there. The family of God transcends time and space. Indeed, much of my encouragement on this trip has been from writings of men of the Bible, long dead, or from prayers and emails from friends and family, who are in other parts of the world. Participation in the worldwide community of believers is a magnificent gift of encouragement for those who follow Jesus Christ.

Perhaps the most beautiful thing about the family of God is that no one has earned her place in it. None of us deserve to be called God’s children or receive part in his inheritance. We’re all adopted. Ephesians 1:5 says, “In love God predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” Again, Galatians 3:26 tells us, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God in faith.” I don’t merit the benefits of being in the family of God. I’m adopted in, through my faith in Jesus, and I’m incredibly grateful to have such a wonderful family.