February 17, 2003
Rivalry in human family 'springs from insecurity'
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___AUSTIN--Sibling rivalry in the human family springs from insecurity, renowned preacher James Forbes told a Texas Baptist conference.
___War, racism, class distinctions and socio-economic barriers all are expressions of humankind's attempts to "hold insecurity at bay," said Forbes, senior pastor of the historic Riverside Church in New York City.
JAMES FORBES, senior pastor of Riverside Church in New York City.
___Forbes presented a series of theme interpretations on "Families of God" at the annual statewide conference of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission Feb. 10-11 in Austin.
___Drawing on the Old Testament stories of brothers--Jacob and Esau, as well as Cain and Abel--Forbes maintained that hunger for security is the force that drives apart members of the human family.
___"No matter how healthy your baby is, that child has this Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau stuff in him," he said.
___Quoting theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, Forbes said, "At the heart of human suffering is humankind's unwillingness to accept and trust God's offer of security. Therefore, we set about in myriad ways to create our own false sense of security."
___God has told humanity that each individual is "precious, honorable, beloved" in his sight, but many people refuse to allow God's grace to "penetrate the shell of defensiveness," Forbes said.
___Yet individual families can become places where the human family hears God's offer of security, he maintained. "Family has got to be the place where God gets you ready to trust."
___And God blesses individual families so they can be a blessing to all the human family, Forbes continued, building upon that that theme in another message.
___"Our faith does not permit narrow narcissistic nuclear nesting," he said. "We each must be secure enough to venture out into the world as an emissary of grace. ... God works through individual families--ecclesiastical, national and nuclear--that God may bless all the families of the earth."
___His theme was echoed by Diana Garland, dean of the social work school at Baylor University and director of Baylor's Center for Community and Family Ministries.
___"Family" must not be defined only as a traditional nuclear family, Garland insisted, drawing upon the New Testament account of Philip witnessing to the Ethiopian eunuch.
___Just as the eunuch had been cut off from family and, in Jewish tradition, from participation in the faith community, so the church excludes those who have part of their "traditional" family cut off, she warned.
___"The church today is being held captive by a culture that names families by their parts," Garland declared. "If anything's cut off, we're labeled by what's not there. ...
___"We don't have to be married or have parents to have family. ... The eunuch is a witness to how God can make wholeness out of brokenness."
___Through the imperfection of people and families, God turns weakness into strength, she said.
___With additional reporting by Mark Wingfield
___
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