HOLY KISS ???

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Sunday my wife and I went back to visit a church where we had worshipped for fifteen years. There was a whole lot of hugging going on! A lot of hugging---but no kissing. At least nobody kissed me---Charlotte maybe, but not me. I guess I should have paid more attention. Charlotte may have been a kissing machine, I don’t know.

There was also a lot of hand shaking. Now, what is that all about? I mean really---what is that all about? Frankly, I had just as soon pass on hand shaking, especially during the winter months. Who knows where those hands have been. Christian hands carry germs just the same as the non-Christian.

I don’t want to restore the Holy Kiss of the New Testament days. And yet, it seems to me that those who teach that every Scripture should be understood literally should follow the command to “greet one another with a holy kiss.”

“Oh Clif, you know times change things like this.” Oh yeah? Then why don’t you feel the same about some other things that have changed with time? And by the way, you should wash somebody’s feet at your next service. That’s changed too? Oh, ok. Wink! Wink!

I have just finished an interesting study on the history of the holy kiss. The holy kiss may seem trivial to us but it certainly wasn’t to the early Christians.

Don’t I have anything better to do? Well yes, I pulled some weeds in the back yard this morning.