Nick Forrest
I remember the first day I encountered a Tanzanian adoption. It was a pastor who had birthed 4 children and had two additional adopted children he was caring for. He was a good man. He did not have many resources, but he used what he had to care for more than his biological family and for that, I believe the Lord is pleased.
However, I was struck by a sense of discontent when I heard the man introduce his family to me. He said, “This is my spouse and these are my children…na hawa ni watoto ninaowalea.” Translation: “…and these are the children that I am caring for.” It was still kind, still intentionally devoted to care, but different.
After meeting this family, I did some personal research into what a family in East Africa can be comprised of; what kinds of connections make for support systems, what makes for parentage, what makes for family. I found three specific degrees of connection.
First, a father, when claiming a child as their own, will call them his own. These children are mine. This was the discontent I felt when I recognized its lack in the way the pastor described the children in his home. Some were his and some were being cared for. A father calls his children his own when they are his.
Secondly, a father’s name takes its place as the surname of a person. My name is Nicholas and my surname is from my family which I take great pride in. We are Forrests! In East Africa, the child is known by the name of their father, so my name would be Nicholas Bradley of the Forrest clan.
Finally, a father claims children as his own when it comes time to divide up the inheritance. A child, a legitimate offspring, is given a portion of the inheritance. The oldest becomes arbiter of its disbursement and the youngest gets a double portion coupled with the responsibility of caring for the parents into their old age. But every legitimate child gets a portion.
This research drew a very practical and important picture for me as my wife and I made distinctions about our own families. And we did so with Tanzanian culture and the scriptures in mind. Isaiah 43 says this about our Heavenly Father: But now, this is what the Lord says – he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine.” When Yahweh sees us as part of a family of God, we are recognized as those called God’s.
God sees that which was created in God’s hands and says, “these are mine.” Yes, God cares for us. Yes, God provides for us. But there is more. We are not only those that God cares for nor only those that God provides for. We are God’s. We belong.
2 Chronicles 7 points to some significant responsibilities we have as those that are God’s but it further specifies for us who we are: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear.”
We know the rest of the verse, but for these purposes, we can see that our responsibility to be in line with God does not supersede our placement as children called by the name of our father. We are called by our Father’s name. A person recognizing their standing as a child of God can most certainly introduce themselves as Nicholas Yahweh. We are legitimate children.
Which leads us to one final thought and confirmation in scripture. Inheritance is all over the Bible. Jeremiah, Isaiah, Proverbs, Psalms, and Ephesians, Matthew, Colossians, and many more. All of them point to the reality that we find in Romans 8: “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirits that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”
We are children of God! We are God’s. We are called by God’s name. And we are co-heirs with Christ because Christ has made it so. As I describe my children, those that are biological and those that are adopted, I call them each my own. I name them with my name upon them; Hannah Nicholas, Hailey Nicholas, Nolan Nicholas and Neil Nicholas. And each of them, biological or adopted, male or female, step-children or half siblings, all of them receive an equal portion of everything that is entrusted to me.
This is how God’s family displays itself. This is how we can display ourselves also. This is how God recognizes the beauty, unique quality and powerful act of acceptance in families of many forms. There are a lot of ways to make a family. Today, as God’s people, we can exemplify the opportunities God has presented to us in very distinct life-stories by calling those entrusted to us our own, calling them by the name of their Heavenly Father, and sharing in an eternal inheritance with all of those God has placed in our lives.
TIME FOR REFLECTION:
What does this look like for you as a child? Whatever your family of origin’s structure (or lack thereof) may look like, have you known God to say, “you are my child, called by my name, of equal legitimacy to all of my other children”? Perhaps you have felt less than legitimate? Or perhaps you have felt more legitimate than others?
What does this look like for others in your life? Step-children, live-ins, more annoying spiritual disciples, troubled children, etc. What would it look like to claim them all as yours? Have you formally done so? What would it mean to them to call them by name, unto your family, unto God’s family? What do you have that God has asked you to steward and how have you portioned that out? Not necessarily monetarily, but with your time, energy and attention?
Loving Father, thank you for loving so well. Thank you for being good at fathering. Thank you for putting your practice together with your preaching! You say you love us and then you show us how much. Thank you. Our father, in heaven, you and your name truly are holy.