An holy kiss

Romans 16:16 -- Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.

It was a kiss; a form of greeting (salute).

It was holy and chaste; not lascivious as the woman in harlot's attire (Prov. 7:13ff. So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him...).

It was sincere and open; not false and treacherous as Judas (Luke 22:48 Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?).

It was mutual; salute one another (Rom. 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another).

Unlike the Dead Sea, which is constantly receiving but never giving, a mutual expression flows in both directions. This mutual expression was one of love -- By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. Of respect -- Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another. Of familial bonds -- Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee...for we be brethren. And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

John 15:12 -- This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Inter-church fellowship

The salutations found in the closing verses of several New Testament epistles should inform some of our understanding of inter-church fellowship. I cannot help but be impressed with the Christians' knowledge of one another across the Roman empire (without planes, trains, automobiles or telephones, television, and the internet) -- and beyond that, the affection they had for one another and the esteem in which they held one another. Contrast that with the apparent complacency and indifference in our modern churches, often found within no more distance than one county, when people in "sister" churches across town don't know one another -- sometimes even within a local church if it is a large one.

Romans chapter 16 is filled with greetings. We cannot help being amazed by Paul's acquaintance with all these people. But we might fail to grasp that the persons mentioned must have also been well acquainted with one another. These different ones that Paul, Peter and others saluted and wanted to salute others apparently made connections in person, for they were to greet one another with a holy kiss. Phebe was a servant of the church at Cenchrea, yet she probably missed a lot of her own church's services while carrying a letter to the saints at Rome (Romans 16:1). Certainly she was engaged in the work of the Lord, but she also was "away from her post" at her home church. To me these examples and the practice of the New Testament church do not fit well into the "you must always attend your own church services" model that some strenuously advocate. Surely this is the norm -- service to the Lord through our local assembly. But if we draw up within ourselves -- and many of us have -- we won't look like the New Testament churches and we won't know anyone to greet!