Who Are My People?

The world, the flesh, and the devil are at constant war with Christians. According to 2 Corinthians 10:5, the battle is over our mind, where we internally process justify our actions. If we are honest with ourselves, our opinions and convictions often change, and we are not aware it is happening.

There are at least two ideologies that American Christians have absorbed in the 20^th century that have harmed our ability to think in biblical categories. These ideas seem innocent, but when placed against the standard of Scripture, they are revealed to be bankrupt. We have absorbed individualism and globalism.

How can we be both individual and global? Those two seem as far apart as possible. However, a simple question will reveal they are close together: “Who are my people?” The unspoken cultural answer to this question is something like, “I am my own person [individualism], and I am supposed to treat all humans equally [globalism].” Both parts of that answer are incorrect.

First, we should understand that many of the relationships we have because God has already determined them for us. We are not isolated individuals; we were born into relationships. Here are some examples.

• We do not choose our parents and family (Job 31:15: “Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?”)

• We do not choose the nation we are born into (Acts 17:26 “And [God] hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.”)

• We do not choose the children we bear (Psalms 127:3 “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”)

• We do not choose our role in the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:18 “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.”)

A sinful aspect of individualism is that people want to choose for themselves the connections that bind them to others. However, God has not made the world that way. It is true you can choose your friends or your spouse, but those individuals are members of other larger groups to whom you have already established responsibilities.

Second, since we have relationships already built into our lives, that means we should not treat all people the same. After all, we only have so much time and money and effort. Since many of our relationships are chosen by God’s providence, we should identify which bonds are primary, and then prioritize strengthening those ties. So, who are my people?

1.     The Family of God

Fundamentally, a Christian owes loyalty to others who also profess faith in Christ. Jesus taught this principle in a blunt and memorable way. “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth,” the Lord said. “I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:34-37). The point is obvious: we must choose Jesus over our closest earthly relation.

Making Christ our highest loyalty places us believers in a unique relationship with other believers. Since all confessing Christians are united by their supreme commitment to the Lord Jesus, they are also united to each other. This new relationship under a single Head is one reason believers are referred to in collective family terms throughout the New Testament. Consider, for example, Ephesians 2:19: “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” One chapter of Ephesians later, Paul makes it clear the Church is a cohesive, universal arrangement. “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” (Ephesians 3:14-15). Now you know why church groups that visit foreign countries speak of feeling like those foreign believers are brothers, even though they cannot understand each other’s language. We worship the same Lord, so we are brothers and sisters.

It is a common thing to speak of Christians in family terms. Galatians 6:10 refers to “the household of faith.” 1 John 3:10-11 speaks of “the children of God” and the responsibility of believers to love their brother. And this is why believers call each other “brother” and “sister.” It is because the Lord establishes a new highest allegiance, and a new family.

With that said, we are not required to reject biological families just because we have a spiritual family. There is no requirement to reject family out of hand. If family is compatible with faith in Christ, so much the better. The household of God is simply supposed to be a greater loyalty. Your church is your people.

2.     Biological Family

It may be tempting to think that, if the Lord reprioritized physical family ties, then He ignores biological family in Scripture. However, the Bible is full of family bonds. Indeed, they are the model for how the church is supposed to work. Family loyalty set the standard for spiritual relationships. In 1 Timothy 3, the state of the man’s household was to be an essential point for deciding if that man was qualified to be a pastor or deacon (or not). A similar priority is given with regards to widows. “But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God” (1 Timothy 5:4). The most famous bit of instruction regarding family health is in 1 Timothy 5:8: “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” Biological family is extremely important in the New Testament, second only to the church. Your family is your people.

3.     Neighbors

The final category, and the lowest-ranking type of relationship, is that of neighbor. Jesus famously answered the question of who is a neighbor with the parable of the Good Samaritan: any person we come across with a legitimate need is our neighbor. Outside of the context of immediate need, we can define neighbors as the people Jesus sent the formerly demon possessed man to witness to when he returned home. Mark 5:18-19 says it this way: “And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, ‘Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee’.” This is the same category of people the Samaritan woman approached to tell of her encounter with Jesus in John 4. When Cornelius called together “his kinsmen and near friends” to hear the message of Peter, this is the group that assembled at his house. Your neighbors are your people.

Here is an easy way to show that neighbors rank below family. Neighbors are those in my proximity I should help if a need arises. Family is those I am responsible to make sure that a need never arises. Both groups are a lower priority to my faith family, those for whom I should suffer need rather than deny or disavow. All three are your people in one way or another. These are the unchosen bonds God has given to you. These are the people we should learn to love: church, family, and neighbors.

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The above article was written by Jonathan Kyser. He is a pastoral assistant at NorthStone Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL. To offer him your feedback, comment below or email us at strengthforlife461@gmail.com.

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