One lego brick by itself is neither beautiful nor useful. And anyone who has stepped on one in bare feet can tell you that a solitary LEGO can be downright dangerous! LEGO bricks are designed to be attached to other LEGO bricks. A whole pile of LEGO bricks, fitted together with care and creativity, can become something truly impressive.

This is how Peter sees the church. His first letter uses a variety of metaphors. He calls the believers scattered throughout Asia Minor “God’s elect,” “exiles,” “obedient children,” “newborn babies,” “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession,” “the people of God,” “God’s household,” “God’s flock,” and the “family of believers” (1 Pet. 1:1, 14; 2:2, 9-10; 4:17; 5:2, 9). Another metaphor he uses is particularly striking: Peter imagines believers as “living stones … being built into a spiritual house” (1 Pet. 2:5). Each believer is like a single LEGO brick, designed to connect with other LEGO bricks to form a new temple. Jesus himself is the cornerstone. Alone, we cannot fulfill our purpose.

Paul makes the same point when he writes to the Ephesians: “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord” (Eph. 2:19–21). On our own, any one of us is incomplete. We are meant to join with others to become something more than we can be by ourselves. We gather prayerfully, serving one another and waiting for God to act among us. God chooses this community in which to tabernacle and to manifest his presence to the world. (Visit www.ivpress.com/imes94 for a cool LEGO temple!)

John warns, “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness” (1 John 2:9).

We need to examine our attitudes toward each other regularly. Who are my brothers and sisters in the Lord? Am I loving them well? Or have I sorted them into categories of those who deserve my friendship and those who don’t? John does not mince words. He boldly writes, “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister” (1 John 3:10).

Our doctrine may be precise and our church-planting methods sound, but if we don’t like the people in our church, they will not entrust themselves to us, nor we to them. Paul models fondness in so many ways as he longs to be with those with whom he has shared the gospel. He is so distraught over his separation from those in Thessalonica that he feels “orphaned” during their separation. It takes time to develop this level of connection with people outside our biological family, but Paul makes it a high priority. So should we.

Adapted from Becoming God’s Family by Carmen Joy Imes (associate professor of Old Testament).
©2025 by Carmen Joy Imes. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press. www.ivpress.com.