The Ministry of Ohana'

Scripture

7As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but instead we were like children among you. Or we were like a mother feeding and caring for her own children. 8We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too.

1 Thessalonians 2:7-8

Observation

I had never noticed how intentional Paul was in using familial language to describe his approach to ministry and his connections with the church in Thessaloniki. He describes themselves as children as opposed to experts. He describes themselves as mothers who lay down their lives down for their children sacrificially. This wasn’t just a job to Paul, this wasn’t about getting something from them, but giving everything to them. He goes on to describe them as “dear brothers and sisters” (v.9) as they share the same Heavenly Father and submit to His authority together. Then, Paul describes themselves as a father who lays down his life for his kids, “11And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. 12We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory.” In other words, telling them what they needed to hear, not just what they wanted to hear as a good father would.

Application

Why was Paul using this intimate language? The Church was never meant to be a business, we were meant to be a family. Yes, we are supposed to be organized, but our primary identity isn’t as an organization but as an organism that lives and moves together. I think this is ultimately what people are hungry for. This deep connection with God and each other. We live in a world of fractured families, the last thing we need is for the Church to reflect this. One of the best words to describe this is the Hawaiian word for Family- Ohana'. Many Hollywood experts are predicting the new live action adaptation of Lilo & Stitch to be the biggest movie of the summer. Lilo & Stitch is a 2002 animated film produced by Disney and was one of the few Disney’s later  films that saw unprecedented success. Not only was it a box office success and earned a 75th Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature. The film also spawned a franchise that included three film sequels and three television series. It also brought the definition of Ohana to the mainstream. As this odd and destructive alien on the run from galactic police was welcomed into a Hawaiian family that was having its own real life problems the world saw something we all long for- a place to be accepted and loved despite our flaws. Over the course of the film we see Stitch changed by the familial love of Lilo and her older sister Nani and by the end he is willing to lay his life down to keep them safe.  This is when Lilo declares,  “Ohana' means family. And family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” Almost anyone who has seen the movie can quote this line no matter how long ago they saw it because this is something we were made for. I remember the Matsuyama family welcoming our family into their Ohana' in Kona. I looked different from them, but they didn’t see that. They saw a kid looking for connection, family, friendship and I was changed by this. In fact, from age 5 to age to 10 God used the Matsuyama Ohana' to permanently imprint on me what The Church should look like. A Multi-generational multi-cultural expression of the love of Jesus to those around is the ministry of Ohana'. In this world of high performance stage driven church expressions this next generation is hungry for something more grounded in authenticity. In a world of self-serving we need to model self-sacrifice. Each person needs to know they are not a product to be sold, a problem to be solved, but a person to be loved and no one gets left behind!

Prayer

Lord, I’m so thankful for my Father’s House family and how You have continued to grow this multi-generational multi-cultural expression of Your family here in San Marcos. Thank You for all the new people that are coming to know You and finding You through a bunch of imperfect people following a perfect love! I pray that as we launch The Bridge we could create a culture of love through the power of a faith family. That people would know they can belong before they believe.