How do you greet people in your church? A high-five? Are you a hugger? A formal handshake? Or do you just nod your head. Here are 3 reasons why we should do something akin to a kiss in church.
“Greet all God’s people with a holy kiss.” (1 Thessalonians 5 v 26)
- The Church should be a safe place for the power of touch. It seems Paul is wanting them to physically connect. To know the power of touch. He wanted them to have something tangible happen in their greeting. “Give each other a big hug” or if you’re a more conservative Christian, “Give each other a hearty hand-shake”. Whatever it is remember it is a holy ‘kiss’. A cursory look online at the traumatic sad stories of feral children raised with little or zero human contact and you realise the power of touch. Greet one another not only with words but make sure you all know the feeling of being loved, appreciated and wanted. The power of touch heals, restores and connects us into a wholesomeness of our well-being. Perhaps Paul was on to something which we now know is vital for our lives
- The Church should be a place where there is no favouritism. ‘Greet all God’s people’. These are God’s people, God’s church, they are not mine and yours; they all belong to God. We must connect with them as Christ the Shepherd does. In the years to come when sheep remember the shepherds that have been responsible for their life. They will perhaps have forgotten the many words spoken and the way they were led into new things. But they will never forget they were shepherded, they were cared for, they were loved. Sheep never forget the cross. That is the justice of the Kingdom which Shepherds choose and which is Christ’s. There is no fighting just greeting. The only blood is that of Jesus.
- The Church should demonstrate the purity of its own culture. So wherever you are reading this from in the world you might have a different way to greet one another but the point is you should keep to it. A Tibetan? You might be sticking your tongue out! An Indian? You might be kneeling and touching the feet of the other. From South East Asia? You could be touching noses. A European? Depending on the country you will be doing some air-kisses from one, two or even three times! The Apostle has a European flavour but it has to be a holy one!
Missions Paul 