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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\u201cDad, I\nunfriend you!\u201d \u2026 \u201cThat\u2019s not how this works. That\u2019s not how ANY of this works!\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We all\nremember the first few things I mentioned. The times when we hated our\nsiblings. When they purposely got on our nerves when we had friends over. When\nthey had to stick their nose in everything you were doing. But we also remember\nthe times when someone else was mean to them. My little brother Adam could tell\nyou stories of how we fought but can also tell you the time a kid older than me\npunched him in the face. And what happened to said kid\u2019s face (I\u2019m not\ncondoning violence). I\u2019m just saying\nthat we say we don\u2019t like them, then when they\u2019re under attack we immediately\ngo to their defense. How in the world can this happen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As much as\nI\u2019ve studied this topic, I still don\u2019t truly understand it. What I do know is\nthis: God designed it this way. It\u2019s a natural reaction to take care of those\nclose to us, whether we like them or not. It is innate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s where\nthis conversation gets tough. The church. Oh boy, I said it. Just hear me out.\nWe want to call the church a \u201cfamily\u201d, but in reality, we don\u2019t really view it\nas family at all. We view it as a bunch of things, but family isn\u2019t one of\nthem- when really, family should be the primary one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We view church as a social event. \u201ctake a pic for Instagram honey so people see how cool we are!\u201d We view it as a place to GET something. A place to meet people. Nothing wrong with meeting people and getting things needed while at church. But when we really view it as family, church hopping will slow down to a crawl. As of now, it\u2019s a super highway moving at Autobahn speeds. Don\u2019t like what the pastor said about seeking God daily? We just leave. Go somewhere else. Don\u2019t like the guy next to you because he wore a Bama jersey to church? We leave. While these seem like extreme examples, and they may be, they\u2019re really not that far off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nAs with any relationship, you don\u2019t really know what kind of relationship you have or how strong it is until you are faced with real adversity. That\u2019s when you get to see where your relationship really is. In a family, when your \u201cdad\u201d says something you don\u2019t like, you learn to deal with it because eventually, you get to a place where you know he loves you and wants the best for you. When your brother gets on your nerves, you just go to a different room of the same house. Oh but church, no\u2026 you find a completely different house. You go to the next church with some delusional belief that your jacked up problems somehow won\u2019t find you at the next place. News flash…They do!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine, if you will, a place where you hear the Pastor say something you don\u2019t like and just chew on it and ask God what it is that\u2019s bothering you. Only to find out that it\u2019s something YOU need to change and not the pastor or the church. Imagine a place where you don\u2019t have to be everyone\u2019s best friend but when someone attacks your brother, the one that gets on your nerves, you are quick to defend and can\u2019t really explain why. Imagine a place where things aren\u2019t always perfect and squeaky clean. We’re all kind of weird. We all have issues and problems. But we have these issues together. We walk through them together. We don\u2019t bail out when the Pastor says something we don\u2019t like or agree with. A place where you realize that he\u2019s human. Just like your imperfect dad or mom you had growing up. Imperfect but doing their best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now imagine\na God, a COVENANT God, getting the opportunity to shower you with rewards,\ngifts, blessings because you stuck through the hard times to get to the good\ntimes. Your obedience to His direction in your life leads to blessings that you\ncan\u2019t measure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The same goes for the people in the church. Those people that are called hypocrites because they are church goers but also\u2026 wait for it\u2026 make mistakes. Well that just can\u2019t happen. You go to church. You\u2019re not allowed to make mistakes! It. Is. Family. We all make mistakes. We all say and do things someone else doesn\u2019t like. But at the end of the day, we\u2019re still family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Church faces is an epidemic that usually doesn’t exist in a real family. We put on these Instagram faces like everything is ok and refuse to let anyone think we don’t have it all together. Afraid of what they may think and afraid of being judged. You get NOWHERE with church faces. The junk is still there. We’re just pretending it’s not. We MUST take those off. We have to be vulnerable. You CANNOT love until you’re vulnerable enough to be hurt. Family doesn’t keep church faces on. Family doesn’t think less of someone going through something tough because they remember going through something tough as well. Family also does so much more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Family cooks meals for mothers who just gave birth. Or for people who were injured in accidents. Family rallies together to take care of another family member\u2019s yard. Family holds you when your child is in the hospital after overdosing on drugs. Family doesn\u2019t leave your side when you get sick, they run to<\/strong><\/em> your side. And it\u2019s important to note that sometimes, you are on the receiving end. But more often, you are on the GIVING end. But if you\u2019re not there, someone missed out on a blessing you had to give. You are needed by your family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So the next\ntime you and your spouse are pulling out of the church parking lot and they\nsay, \u201cI don\u2019t think I liked church today\u201d, back up, remember you are family and\nseek God before you just hop on the next family train. Real family doesn\u2019t bail\nin time of need. Real family sticks it out even when it\u2019s uncomfortable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Part of family is a \u201cFather\u201d that is leading the family. We dive head first in to that in part 2 of this blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stay Classy GP! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Grainger <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Remember those pesky brothers and sisters you had growing up? Remember when they did things that got on your nerves? Remember when your parents said something that made you so angry you could bite a nail in half? Now\u2026 remember when you got to leave all of that and get new brothers, new sisters, and … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/family-quote.jpg\")
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