The church can sometimes be an intimidating place where everyone seems to have it together except for you. Even though people inside the body of Christ are all believers in Christ, there can still be a lot of disagreements between individual believers. There is not necessarily a universal understanding of what the word family means or implies in this context. That's a significant challenge when we are trying to encourage one another to treat each other like family members.
In this article, we will explore how we can actually treat other believers like family with five key practices: unconditional acceptance, mutual respect, shared affection, active support, and loving confrontation.
Five Key Practices to Treat Each Other Like Family
1. Unconditional Acceptance
The first practice to treat other believers like family is to practice unconditional acceptance. This means showing love and compassion for every person, regardless of their personality, strengths, weaknesses, struggles, or even mistakes they make in life or church activities. As Christians, we are called to accept one another because we are all imperfect beings who have received salvation through Christ (Romans 15:7).
Unconditional acceptance involves seeing people for the wonderful image bearers of God that they are and learning to overlook their flaws in love as Jesus did when He came to save us (Mark 2:17). In our church or family relationships, let us be known as people who accept others without judgment or prejudice.
2. Mutual Respect
Another essential aspect to treat each other like family is practicing mutual respect. In our dealings with other believers, we should honor their thoughts, opinions, personalities, feelings, experiences, and spiritual journeys as we would our own family members (1 Peter 3:8-9). This kind of respect translates into active listening when they speak, being generous with forgiveness when mistakes are made, and valuing their contributions even when we may not initially agree with them.
Mutual respect also implies a commitment to doing our best not to cause harm or offense to other believers intentionally or unintentionally (1 Corinthians 10:24). There should be no prideful posturing or boasting about our spirituality or church affiliations but instead humility acknowledging that we all have blind spots and need each other to grow (Ephesians 4:2).
3. Shared Affection
As part of the Christ family, we need to cultivate a culture of shared affection. This entails showing genuine warmth, love, and affection toward one another as we would within our own biological families (1 John 3:1). It could include hugging or holding hands during worship services, offering emotional support during tough times, showing compassion to those in need, greeting one another with a smile or friendly exchange, sharing meals together, participating in fellowship gatherings outside of church events, and celebrating significant milestones such as birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, weddings, baby showers, graduations, etc.
Shared affection is a natural result of genuine relationships where people are known beyond their religious titles and labels (1 John 4:7). Let's be the kind of church that fosters these kinds of connections for the glory of God.
4. Active Support
Another way of treating aech other like family is committing to active support in both spiritual and practical ways. This involves providing spiritual encouragement when needed; praying regularly for each other’s needs, asking and offering advice or guidance from Scripture, helping one another grow in our walks with Christ through personal accountability and fellowship (Hebrews 3:12-13, 1 Thessalonians 5:11).
In practical terms, active support means offering assistance with various aspects of everyday life such as housekeeping, childcare support, providing rides, helping with errands, or bringing food during difficult times (Galatians 6:2). In these ways, we become a church that tangibly embodies the gospel message of love as we serve one another sacrificially (John 13:34).
5. Loving Confrontation
Finally, we must embrace the practice of loving confrontation in our relationships with other church members. Even though unconditional acceptance and mutual respect require us to value one another deeply, we cannot gloss over sinful behavior with a false sense of tolerance (Ephesians 5:11).
If someone is caught up in an obvious sin pattern or causing division within the body (Matthew 18:15-17), we should be willing to lovingly approach the situation, seeking restoration and reconciliation. This process is not meant to be confrontational for its sake but as an expression of genuine love that desires to see others walking in obedience to Christ (Galatians 6:1).
Loving confrontation is rooted in the desire to preserve unity within the body of Christ through obedience to Scripture while maintaining a posture of humble concern and genuine care for the other person (1 Corinthians 1:10).
Conclusion
In conclusion, treating other believers like family requires an intentional focus on unconditional acceptance, mutual respect, shared affection, active support, and loving confrontation within the church community. When we strive to embody these five practices in our relationships with fellow believers, we will experience a stronger, healthier Christ-centered family that reflects God's heart genuinely.