Pucker Up!
How are we to greet all the brethren with a holy kiss? Could this be literal? I don’t think so. In this day and age there is a risk being taken by the believer when they, first, take it upon themselves to determine if someone is on the Lord’s side. The old folks taught us to try the spirit by the Spirit, but we are not always the most skilled in that area. Then, second, we find a risk when we assume that the other person, brother or sister, will take your “kiss” as being holy! Folks can misunderstand your intentions as being negative or too positive. They could be seen as negative if the believer making the brother or sister uncomfortable. They can be seen as too positive if the brother or sister takes the kiss as being a sexual move that can be reciprocated.
So, it leaves me to believe that the “holy kiss” is metaphoric for a “spiritual intimacy”.
Brothers and sisters in Christ should have a familiar spiritual intimacy expressed among one another even upon first meeting one another. God is the same yesterday, today and forever so our interaction should have a consistency in its effort and a constancy in its Divinely loving foundation.
