Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus: Family is important

In Chapter 6 of Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus, Lois Tverberg talks about the importance of family in a way I've never thought of before.

Being from the West, while family is important in my culture, it doesn't have the same focus and weight as in the East. Maybe it's because my country is less than 300 years old. My family's "memory" is really only goes back around 3-4 generations. 

But for those from the East, it's very different. 

In the West, we say, "I'm so and so and I do this job". We put our identities in what we do.

In the East, Tverberg says they say, "I am so and so, from the family of _____". Their identity is bound up in the identity of their family. Why? Because the family is what will last long after the individual passes away (p. 119). This is why it's so important for your family to have a good reputation, why honor and shame is so important, and why every action needs to be thought of in terms of what it means for the family name, not the individual. (Edited April 4, 2020: For more about this, check out the post on names in Near Eastern culture here).

This is also why it is so important for people to marry and have children, and why barrenness is a curse. And why when God says He will bless someone's name and family, it is so important. It means a great, lasting reputation.

But the coolest thing to me, is how in Romans, Paul says that Gentiles who accept Him are grafted into the family of God. We have that legacy, and are part of it—not because of birth, but because of grace. 

What do you think? How does our concept of identity change when we think in terms of family and relational status, instead of our profession? How does that impact our thinking of what it means to be part of the family of God?