thursday reflection for week 5

Today we talked for part of the class period on Jesus redefining the idea of family in Israel. One of the aspects of his redefinition caught my attention. Jesus redefined family in the sense that there was no division between blood relatives and other people in the family. In this way, Jesus created alternative communities of people that he considered family. This alternative community consisted, most likely, of blood relatives along with people who were simply friends, followers, disciples, etc. To dovetail this alternative community concept, Ryan then gave a personal vignette about the church he is attending right now.

He said that his main reason for he and his family to attend their current church is the family ties that he has with people there. The relationships that Ryan has with the people in his church mean more to him than the liturgical aspects of the worship service. This church is Ryan's alternative community. This was great to hear because I have not found a church that I am for sure going to attend. I realize I have only been in Pasadena for about six weeks, but I an bothered by the fact that I have not found a church in which to get involved. However, Jesus' alternative community approach and Ryan's vignette encourage me to find a place where the relationships are the most authentic, organic, and life giving. This is a much healthier approach for finding a church.