One of the longings of the hearts of believers is that their family members come to know and share in their faith. The journey to faith is an individual one; as the children’s song reminds us ‘you need to find Him just for you’: ‘A mum or a dad or a sister who loves Jesus won’t get you there, it’s true.’ (Doug Horley, ‘One Way’) Jesus knew what it was like to live among a family who did not believe in Him (John 7:5), and this is never easy, for we know that eternal life is not just for now, but stretches beyond the grave. When we come to taste and see that God is good, it’s only natural that we want others to share in this life.
We are called to live holy lives before all, and Peter gives advice to wives whose husbands are not believers in 1 Pet 3:1-6 (see also 1 Cor 7:12-16). Most of all, we are called to pray for our families and to seek God for their salvation.
The book of Acts lifts the curtain a little on what happened to Jesus’s earthly family after His death and resurrection. James, the brother of Jesus (also known as ‘James the Just’), may not have been a believer during Jesus’s lifetime, but we are told that Jesus appeared to him after the resurrection (1 Cor 15:7) and Jesus’s brothers are seen with the other disciples in prayer after Jesus’s ascension to heaven (Acts 1:14) By Acts 12, James appears to have been one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem (see Acts 12:17) and he features again prominently in Acts 15:13-21, when the Council of Jerusalem meets to give their comments on Gentile conversions. Paul refers to him in Gal 2:9 as a ‘pillar’ of the church and he clearly was considered an apostle by Paul (Gal 1:19).
In the middle of all that went on in historical terms with the explosion of the gospel, it is reassuring to know that God cares about individual family members and that we see in the midst of the global impact of the church the story of God at work in these family members. We can trust God with those we love. Our part is to pray and to witness, to live integrated lives of holiness and grace before everyone. God is the One who saves, and we can trust Him to work all things together for good. If you’re still waiting to see a beloved family member come to faith, don’t give up. James is proof that God cares for parents, siblings and children. He cares for families.