I preached on the identity of family on Saturday night and the response has been great. People at Revolution are excited about the possibilities of missional communities and what it means to be on mission as a community.
One of the most common questions I get is, “What if I burn out?”
Now, speaking as an introvert, I can relate to this question. I’d rather sit at home with my family, watch football by myself. People and conversations can be draining.
While this fear is real, I think it covers up what is really going on in our hearts. Many of us aren’t worried about burning out, some are. But most of us are worried about letting people into our lives. In the other three identities: missionary, servant and learner. You can do those with sin in your life. You can do those without letting anyone see you with your mask off. You can even do those without anyone else, you can do it in isolation. The family identity goes up against the idol of our American dream. It forces us to get out of our comfort zone, not worry about getting the approval of others, we will have to give up power and control. It nails all the idols of our hearts.
I think that, more than burning out, personality (while real and valid) are the reasons we don’t like the family identity.
We also have a very real fear of being hurt. In our culture, the amount of people who come from broken homes, have had people close to them lie, betray and hurt them are at an all time high. The idea of purposefully opening your life up to someone, letting someone in is crazy when you sit back and think about it. Yet, I believe the family identity is not only something we called to as followers of Jesus, it is also foundational and brings to life the other three identities. Being on mission, serving and learning go to new places when done within the family identity.
