“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”
-Jesus Christ (Luke 14:26-27)
I find it easy to look at this text and feel confusion wrap around my brain. Does God really want me to hate my family? Does he want me to turn my back on people that I love and care about? People that have been with me through thick and thin, who have lead me to Him in the first place. People that have really made it possible for me to be here right now in Cambodia writing these very words.
In the last 8 months I have got to meet and get close to a lot of people. Some of the closest are the ones that I have had the privilege of calling teammates. For the first four months that was Team Unexpected. We traveled through Zambia, Malawi, Latvia, and Estonia. In those four months I built close friendships and was able to be apart of some amazing communities.
At the end of month 4 it was Team Nautilus. As a team, our goals were to go deeper in relationships and see each other grow in new ways. I would try to explain the name “nautilus” but I’m not sure I could do it justice. (Ask Katherine Y. Chen) We started off in Saldus, Latvia at a mission center where we ministered to the surrounding city. We ran programs at day centers, crisis centers and at the mission center itself. We were living in a community that ministered to a community. From there we went to China. Where we worked along an organization that provides care for children with mental and physical disabilities. We were part of an army of 50 volunteers who all came and united to spread the kingdom. Finally came Mongolia where are whole ministry could be wrapped up in the words community and family. We lived alongside a nomadic church in the countryside and learned what it meant minister in everyday life. As a team the same thing happened as before, close friendships and awesome community.
In Thailand our squad had what’s called “Manistry.” Manistry is a month where all the men on the squad are put on a single team. We worked for an organization that works to prevent the sale of children into sex slavery. We worked during the day and spent time with the kids at night. We got to see the power of Christ-based community at work. Children that didn’t have much hope were now looking at a future and an education all founded on Christ.
I say all that to say this. In the last 8 months I have been a part of 3 different teams and 8 different communities in 7 different countries. Apart from each team becoming like family to me, each month I have had a community in each country as well. This year for me has been a year of leaving family, finding new ones, then in turn leaving them behind as well. At first it was tiring and exhausting. Each month I was just starting to get close to the people who surrounded me when we would leave for the next country. In the beginning months it was tough to see the purpose in all of it. But as the months go on I began to see the beauty in it. Wherever I went I walked into new community that had open arms. All I had to do was greet it with open arms as well.
When we step out in faith we can be sure that God will provide for the things we need. In the verses above I see God not calling us to actually hate our families but I see him calling us to love Him enough to leave our families behind to follow Him. In doing so we are making ourselves reliant on Him. We step away from our support system that we have built and let him support us completely. Each disciple stepped away from their lives and families and became apart of the community that God wanted for them. Which ended up being a group of 12 guys that Jesus sent to turn the world upside down.
Over the last months I have experience the opportunity that God gives us through community. On this race, an ever-changing family has constantly surrounded me. It’s a little counterintuitive; a willingness to leave my family has brought me into new families. Even with leaving each community at the end of every month I have been able to be apart of the next one. Sometimes God asks you to give something up so He can show something better. Not that any community I have come across is better then the one I left behind but He has shown me that the entirety of the body of Christ is much bigger and better then any one community or family. It is a network of people that are an outlet for His blessings, provision, and love. Being willing to leave my family and community has given me a knowledge and respect for what community really is. Hating my family enough to leave them behind has helped me realize how important they are to me.
If I could provide a challenge to those who read this it would be to always strive to be apart of and help create good community. Through this you will not only bless others in ways you can never fully understand, but you will also find yourself being blessed by the community known as the body of Christ.
