I

love the word community.

Many of the student groups I have worked with over the years have

gotten tired of hearing me talk about community. But I can’t help

it. I love the concept of people gathering together for the purposes

of accountability, learning, fellowship, and mission. Besides, it’s

in the Bible, so it’s got to be good!

Jesus

was teaching a group of people about faith and the kingdom and

discipleship. And while he was talking to the crowd, his own family

came to speak to him. But instead of dropping everything and talking

to them, Jesus continued teaching, and he even used his family as an

example. “Who is my family?” he asked, in effect. “Those who do

the will of my Father in heaven—they are my family.”

Was

Jesus denying his biological family here? No, but he was not going to

put them ahead of doing the will of God.

Jesus

redefined family and community here in a radical way. Instead of

simply being a gathering of relatives or like-minded neighbors, the

community became people we gather with for the purpose of faith,

mission, and challenge in living for God.

Who

is your family? Who holds you accountable to God’s purposes in

life, and who walks alongside you in both good and bad times? With

whom do you gather for the purposes of faith-building, mission, and

challenge? Wherever you find those people, there is your family—the

community of God.