Copyright by Shea Oakley
All rights reserved
While the primary life-giving relationship in the Christian life is between the believer and God it is not the only relationship the Faith encompasses. Part of the reward of following after Jesus Christ is our adoption into the family of God. The human relationships that follow this adoption have often been a profoundly healing thing for human souls through the centuries and that is perhaps true now more than ever as we make our own way through this relationally dysfunctional age.
However for some reason, in our efforts to introduce secular people to our beliefs, Christians have often forgotten to tell them about this aspect of it. This is tragic because the “vertical” relationship within Christianity cannot be separated from the “horizontal” relationships. The reality of the matter is that the Christian Church Universal is actually, in a sense, the largest family on Earth. For those who come to know Christ the bond of the spirit rivals and often surpasses bonds of blood. This is the reason behind believers often referring to each other as brothers and sisters, for that is indeed what we have become.
This has been manifested in the author’s life. My Christian friends have been in a sense my truest family and they have also been, in a unique way, the “loves of my life.” Without them I’m not sure what kind of existence I’d have today and, frankly, I wouldn’t want to find out. We share a common Father and the sheer spiritual reality of that fact relates us to each other in a category of relationship I knew little or nothing of when I was an atheist. This kind of bond is what so many lonely people are looking for (including the kind of lonely people who feel alone in the middle of a supposedly wonderful secular social gathering.) They may be looking for it consciously or unconsciously, but they are looking nonetheless.
This is not to say that all is interpersonal bliss within the church. Christians do not cease to be human when they embrace the gospel. We disagree and sometimes we hurt each other. We also often do not live out the ramifications of our brotherhood and sisterhood and this is a tragic thing that breaks the heart of God. Some people enter our churches expecting something approximating perfect harmony and what they actually see and feel is a disappointment to them. It behooves every true believer to work, by the grace of our Lord, to change this sad reality.
That said, the communion of sincere followers of Christ is real and more often than not contrasts starkly with the way people in our larger society treat one another. One of our hymns includes the line “they will know we are Christians by our love” and that, by and large, is what you will find in congregations that truly have Christ as their center. Many believers will tell you that it was more a loving encounter with people who bore the name “Christian” than theology that did the most to bring them to faith.
Of course the theology of God coming to Earth to save the human race from itself ultimately explains the love these people found. Christianity is defined by propositional truths that, when accepted, are part of the conduit that allows such affection to flow. You cannot have one without the other. So if such love sounds desirable to Secularists in a sincere sense they are challenged, in the end, to consider the question of whether what Christianity proclaims is true.