Sacred Affection
Theme of the Week: Is Your Church User-Friendly?
Friday, July 3, 2009
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: Greet one another with a holy kiss (Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, & 2 Cor. 13:12 niv). Bonus Reading: Philippians 1:7-8
A friend raised in white, middle-class culture spent a year as an intern in an inner-city church. The greeting during the worship service of his home church lasted about 20 seconds and consisted of a few handshakes and subdued hellos. So during his first Sunday in this African American church, he rose to smile politely and shake a few hands. He quickly learned that here the custom was different. He was hugged and welcomed by one person after another. He sat down five minutes later to catch his breath, only to discover that he was the only one sitting! Another ten minutes elapsed before formal worship resumed.
The holy kiss was practiced regularly in the apostolic church. Today, we must translate that concept into expressions suitable to our time and place. But the intent should remain the same. Whether it's a Presbyterian handshake or a Middle Eastern kiss, it can be kind and gracious or cold and lifeless. Likewise, a Pentecostal hug can be warm and hearty or calculating and suggestive. We must sound the depths of our hearts. Do we really want to embrace one another in love? Are we willing to use our total selves to show such love?
—Gerald Sittser in Love One Another
My Response: Am I impartial in the way I embrace my brothers and sisters, young and old, attractive and plain?
Thought to Apply: The heartfelt grip of the hand is a welcome that does not descend from the gray matter of the brain but rushes up with the red blood of the heart. —Mark Twain
Adapted from Love One Another (InterVarsity, 1994, 2008) by permission.
Copyright © 2009 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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Keep us, Lord, from erecting artificial barriers to joining your family.
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