Body of Christ

As we enter into a new season in our young adult ministry, you have probably heard me mention this before, the Holy Spirit is clearly ushering us into intergenerational discipleship. This does not just mean that we occasionally ask an older member of our congregation for advice, though that is a fantastic way to start (really)! I want to provide an alternative image for you.

In 1 Timothy 5, Paul teaches “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.” 

This is a very intimate image of church. This is real life. The people whom we’re around on a Sunday morning— what would it look like if we truly treated them like our own family? This means that we can’t hold people at arms-length. How would one encourage one another if you don’t know the first thing about your own family? This is what the Body of Christ does. 

We will not be perfect at this, we probably won’t even be good at it, but let’s take a stab at what Paul is exhorting us to here.