Are we really a family?

Often I hear people refer to our “church family”.  In City on Our Knees (the book, not the song), TobyMac says, “Members of a family sometimes have their differences, but in a strong family, people are secure in each other’s love, even in the middle of conflict. That’s what holds everything together. That is the foundation.” Do you suppose that explains why some churches fall apart during times of conflict? Perhaps we were never a strong family to begin with? And then I wonder…in a large church, how can the church as a whole be a strong family when there are family members you’ve never even met?