Families are special! They should provide a secure place where we are loved, and we can love others freely, without fear.  When people repent and believe in the saving grace of Christ, they belong to another family as well; they are adopted into God's family (Ephesians 1:5), and He calls them 'His children' (Hebrews 2:13).  So, every believer has two families - a natural one and a spiritual one.  In God's creation design, there should be no conflict between the two - but when sin entered the world, we soon saw the first murder - brother on brother (Genesis 4:1-12).

Because human nature is at war with God, joining the family of God may not be well received by others in our human family.  The shared values of people who have grown up together include accommodating to each other's sin as well as their goodness.  But Jesus never accommodates to sin; He challenges it in us (2 Corinthians 5:15) and died for it instead of us (1 Peter 3:18).  Jesus often upsets the way a family sees authority and introduces a disturbing new dynamic.  Because He is Lord, those who submit to Him become targets for those who resist Him.  Jesus did not suggest ways of minimising the Christian's discomfort: His command was simple, "… the one who stands firm to the end will be saved".

This is not just a passive reaction to evil aggression.  Jesus proactively brings righteousness into the midst of evil.  In Luke 12:51-53 He says, "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.  They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.'"  In this often-misunderstood passage, Jesus says that as fire burns up all that is not precious (Luke 12:49), and light scatters darkness, so His kingdom will expose people's true loyalties – to light or darkness.  Their reaction to the gospel, spoken and lived out, shows where their loyalty lies.  Those whose hearts are opposed to all that Jesus brings will also be opposed to those who love Him: even in their own family.  Of course, the Lord wants peace on earth (1 Timothy 2:2): not an accommodation of evils but a unity in truth.  All who are on the side of truth listen to Jesus (John 18:37), but those who will not accept Him will be against Him and His family.

That is not licence for Christians to be belligerent to unbelievers.  Romans 12:17-18 says, "Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."  When people reject you because you serve Jesus, what should you do?  However hard it is, your first loyalty is to your Heavenly Father.  Jesus' instruction to "stand firm" is for us too.  Such gentle courage in the face of derision (or even being put out of the family) is a mark that Jesus, and not the family, has the right to own you.  What He allows must be right, and we can be confident that His salvation is certain in the end.