Week 7: Chapter 6 — A New Family

1.Platt points to Matthew 12:46–50, where Jesus redefines family as those who do the will of the Father, as evidence that the church is not an optional add-on to Christian faith but is itself a new family. How does this challenge the common view that church attendance is simply one spiritual practice among many?

2.He describes the early church in Acts 2 as a community of radical sharing, mutual care, and regular gathering — a community so distinct that it was impossible to miss. How does your current church community compare to that portrait? What is vibrant, and what is missing?

3.Platt argues that Western individualism has deeply infected our practice of discipleship — we want a private, personal faith that doesn't require too much involvement with other people. Where do you recognize this individualism in your own approach to the Christian life?