Beyond Awkward Side HugsSample

The more we speak about church as a family to whom we belong, the more we will think and live that out, which is itself a powerful witness and invitation to a world craving connection and belonging. “In my Father’s house are many rooms,” said Jesus (John 14:2). Oh, that we would speak, think, and live in a way that invites the world to move in as one of his beloved children too.

By shifting our language to be more in line with the Bible’s emphasis on the church as a family who loves one another well, we get to portray a beautiful picture of the gospel. The world is supposed to know we are Christians by our love. By adopting language and practices that show Christian men and women in deep, close, holy, love relationships, we model something powerful to the world. God’s sexual ethic and pattern for relationship is good news to us. His invitation to live as sons and daughters in his family is a promise of abundant life. If people have heard that the Christian life is prudish, disembodied, and sexually repressed, we have either badly communicated the message or shown that we have terribly misunderstood it ourselves. The Bible speaks of maleness and femaleness with joy. It speaks of intimate community as a reality. It speaks of sex as a gift. Our witness should bear that out.

The world around us is aching for authentic sexuality and fulfilling relationships, and as brothers and sisters in Christ, we have something to offer. Believers have something better to say about being men and women than the prevailing cultural scripts. We know something deeper and more profound about love than Love Actually. We have something better than “wishful thinking.” We have hope as our anchor. . . . As we live out what it means to be the family of God in every area of our lives— including our sexual formation— the world cannot fail to notice.

We are called to be familiar with each other, and to love one another deeply and well as part of God’s family. And we can all invite more guests. The intimacy of God’s family is available for everyone.