The Seeing Before The Greeting

The Seeing Before The Greeting

Here are two excerpts from "Greeting The Saints–A Practice That Must Not Be Neglected: An Exposition of Philippians 4:21-22": 

1) "Do we realize how precious and valuable our fellow Christians are? Before we can greet a fellow saint, we must first recognize him or her as a saint – indeed, as a “saint in Christ Jesus.” We should not settle for greeting human beings in a generic ‘one size fits all’ way. Human beings are either unconverted sinners or redeemed saints. And those who are redeemed saints ought to be recognized and greeted as such. In other words, we must see our fellow Christians the right way; we must see our fellow Christian as a saint, as a holy man or holy woman, as a person who belongs to God."

2) "Yes, we see the charming or not so charming personality, the obvious or not so obvious gifts, the fashionable or not so fashionable dress; and we might see the socio-economic status, the family history, the present successes or the present struggles (as the case may be). But so what? This kind of information may be useful in terms of being sensitive to people and ministering to them in helpful ways. But these personality or social or circumstantial factors must not be the lens through which we discern our brother’s or sister’s fundamental identity. Our Christian brother or sisters is, fundamentally, a blood-bought saint who now exists and lives in holy union with the Lord Jesus Christ. As Christians we have reverence for the Lord Jesus Christ, and we must be faithful to have profound respect for every member of Christ’s holy spiritual body, the church."