Freedom comes in Family

If you have ever spoken with a child or youth that doesn't have a family of their own, you most likely remember the look in their eye more than the words that were spoken. Some say that our deepest desire as human beings is to simply belong; just to be an irrevocable member of something greater than ourselves. Here in Central America, the gang crisis has exploded over the last two decades, bringing in thousands of wandering youth into the comforting arms of belonging and purpose. Kids who once felt alone in their homes and in their hearts, have encountered the life-giving feeling of being united with others in a visible way. To belong to a gang looks like haircuts, tattoos, holding fast to the higher order and sacrificing oneself for the greater good of the tribe. For families, the tribe membership means last names on birth certificates, generational traditions and affiliated behaviours but even in the most amazing families there are kids who don't feel like they truly belong. In the midst of this earnest pursuit to belong, the child grows up, the walls in their heart continue under construction, and the search for belonging continues. Belonging is more than just membership.

In Galatians 4:5 it says that God purchased our freedom as he adopted us into His family, giving us His very spirit in our hearts that allows us to call back to this mysterious and infinite father in the most intimate way. Belonging in this family, we may acquire new traditions, change the way we dress and even grasp new perspectives of life and humanity that give us greater empathy and compassion but the deepest changes in our new found identity is something profoundly spiritual.

Over the years, I have had conversations with kids that long for family and I have seen it in their eyes. More than wanting a new last name, they are longing for the assurance that they would be a part of something; to be loved and received, valued and cherished. Their eyes speak of the desire to belong. But it's not just them. Today, I choose to look in the mirror and cut through the religious rhetoric and esoteric noise to take an honest look into my own eyes. Days like these, that I look into the word of God, the one true mirror for my soul, and I find myself deeply longing for more of what these words say. I really just want to belong. I know that I have passed from lost to saved, from orphan to son and from victim to heir, but in all honesty, I haven't completely realized and walked into what this freedom is supposed to look like. Today, I am just a scared little boy, using grown up words but wanting something simple. To belong.  I love to advocate for these kids that have such apparent needs and incredibly obvious (although sacrificial) answers to their longings, but if we are honest, we all feel like orphans some days.

But I know that this life is so much more than feelings. I sit myself down and speak the words of promise and eternal truth and fight through the hardship. I know the only way through it is through it. I know what to do because I have been taught and I believe that, in Jesus, I certainly do belong. So, what if, as a Christian, I was less focused on rants, judging and justifying myself and a little bit more focused on relaying this God-given acceptance to others? What if, at the hands of Christians, the world felt primarily accepted as ones who bear God's very image with infinite worth and importance? What if we truly believed that it was God's kindness that led people to repentance and that Jesus was the only way to bring others close to God? What if we acted like God has chosen us to give this good news to others, not only in eloquent speech but in gritty and messy love? From the frightened orphan, to the child of privilege; the youth finding home in a gang to the mirror in front of me, the desire is the same. It's in our DNA. The whole world is just craving to belong, and Jesus is the only way to make that dream come true.

Photo by juan pablo rodriguez on Unsplash