I want to say, from the start, that this is not something I received from God. This is my personal rant and so if anyone disagrees strongly or feels insulted or put-out, I apologize. I am NOT against anyone calling me “Brother Steve” or using “Brother” or “Sister” with other members in the body of Messiah, or even saying they “love” me if they feel the need to do so. This is simply how I feel about calling each other “brother” or “sister”, or telling people you love them.
If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.
I agree that we are all brothers and sisters in the body of the Messiah, Yeshua, who is known by many as Jesus Christ because they don’t know his Hebrew name and haven’t learned how the Hebrew name was translated incorrectly to become “Jesus Christ”.
But that’s another issue.
We have a spiritual connection with each other through Messiah, which is separate from our real-world relationship. As such, when I am called “brother”, I accept that and appreciate it, but still I feel uncomfortable (to a small degree) because I am not their brother in real life. I have sisters, and I love people, but when a stranger I am meeting for the first time tells me he or she loves me, well…c’mon, really? You love me? -you don’t even know me!
Even people I meet and talk with, maybe for years, but only at the synagogue don’t really know me.
They see “synagogue Steve”. not “just waking up and grumpy Steve”, not the “mad as all get-out and cursing Steve (and believe me, when I am that mad that I curse, the curses flow like water down a waterfall!)”, or any of the other aspects of my personality that are the total me.
So please- don’t tell me you love me. Love is too important a word to throw around like a hot potato, or use flippantly.
Call me Steve, Steven, Yo!, Hey You, but NEVER “Stevie”: the last person who called me that is recovering very well and should be released from the hospital soon.
I have never called anyone I know from a synagogue or Facebook or any of the Facebook accounts I am associated with “brother” or “sister”, and I have never told anyone I love them, except those who I truly love and have known me, the whole me, for years.
Now, I know that Yeshua said to love each other (John 13:34) and Shaul (Paul) even went as far as to say we should greet each other with a holy kiss (2 Corinthians 13:12). But Yeshua was talking on a spiritual plane; I really don’t think he meant loving each other in a physical way: he said to love us as he did, which means to treat each other with respect and compassion.
I really don’t think Yeshua meant to go around telling everyone in the church or synagogue that “I love you”.
And what about greeting each other with a kiss? I don’t know about you, but I do not want to have anyone to kiss me, especially a stranger. Now, if we have already had a friendship for a long enough time that we both know each other well enough to kiss, that’s OK.
And that kiss better be a peck on the cheek, and nothing more.
I feel the same way about hugging.
So, that’s my rant for today- this is the real me, people, and I am sharing with you my private and true feelings. Not that I pretend to be different when I am with you in these messages or when I am in a house of worship with other congregants: I am just much more careful about what and how I say things, and I try to stay emotionally “disconnected”.
I hope you understand my feelings, and if you feel the same way I do, please let me know.
That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!
(Hey, in case you didn’t notice, I did not include anything about liking my Facebook Messianic Moment page or joining my “Just Gods’ Word” group, or buying my books or subscribing to my website on this post or …… oh, my! I guess I just did.)
