Greet one another with a holy kiss… (Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:26)
How many awkward moments have we all experienced where you meet someone you know and there is that terrible embarrassment caused by them going to shake hands and you going to hug, or you going for the one kiss and them trying to add a second or – totally over-the-top – a third!
A lot of Brits are highly suspicious of peple who greet one another with a kiss on the cheek. It is far too ‘European’ for comfort and people tend to judge you as hoity-toity. I kind of love that despite the probably clash of heads involved, people living in Belgium at least look happy to acknowledge that they know each other.
Jesus said in John 13, ‘This is how everyone will recognise that you are my disciples – when they see the love you have for each other.’ There are a lot of superficial relationships around, where people can work together for years, party every night for a month, and yet still not truly know or care for each other. Paul reminds the Christians to ‘greet each other with a holy kiss’ in a lot of his letters. Apparently it was a customary practice of the early Christians – a sign of mutual respect and love for one another.
Jesus was good at relationships. He loved deeply, cared deeply, enjoyed people’s company. What do we need to change in ourselves, and in our community to reflect more of that love? How can we ensure that when we greet each other, our pleasure and enjoyment are true rather than superficial? I think that kind of love can only come from knowing the source of all love: ‘We love because he first loved us.’
One wise person in my expression said a few weeks ago, that people in this city are thirsty to be acknowledged. I cam across a really interesting quote by Mother Theresa. She said, ‘We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked, and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty.’ Maybe this week we can keep our eyes open for the people who go unacknowledged, unrecognised, and greet them ‘with a holy kiss.’ Fiona Thornton
The Well 
I never get tired of the awkward how-many-times-do-we-kiss conversation! It’s such a great reminder of the diversity of our backgrounds. What’s funny to me is that some bring their greeting culture with them – mine is the sideways-hug culture, perfected in a church context where we’re supposed to be friendly but not TOO friendly – and some go native, adapting to local culture. Of course who’s to say what really is local culture, since I’ve heard people say authoritatively ‘Belgians kiss once’ and ‘Belgians kiss twice’ not to mention whether guys kiss guys once or twice or never…
I love to kiss 🙂
isn’t it a marvelous invention? you should see what I do with David everyday.
I try to kiss as much people as possible, sometimes I feel that they are a bit akward, then I dont kiss anymore. instead I try and give a warm hug.
if that feels akward, a warm hadnshake.
but beware wellies, the kissing machine is back with a vengeance:)
Ha! Finally, the kiss daily devotional 🙂
Just for the record, Paul asks to great each other with a holy kiss, so with one holy kiss, not two, not three, nor fourth 😉
Where I come from (the 3-1-3…Detroit) the ‘holy kiss’ equivalent is the question “You all right?”—sometimes with a shoulder-to-shoulder tap. I love that question as a greeting for some reason…even though it never rolls off my tongue quite as naturally as I’d like (of course, the Belgian kiss is a little awkward sometimes too!). Suppose whatever form the holy kiss takes, it’s meant to acknowledge and encourage. May my holy greetings be genuine and heartfelt—and not just a social nicety.
A kiss, whether on the cheek or the back of a hand, is best delivered with eye contact. Paul is encouraging us to get close to one another, more intimate, more honest, more vulnerable.
And of course, kissing is fun whether it is holy, flirty, cheeky or noisy 🙂
I know of a Turkish singer who made a song about kissing 🙂
he’s called Tarkan and the song is called “Hepsi senim me”
I have been secretly following this blog because there is a possibility that I may be moving to Brussels (from California) and I have to admit that this post has brought me out of hiding. I am Japanese American. We don’t kiss. We bow. So Jodi, do you think there is such a thing as a ‘holy bow’ (don’t confuse that with the ‘holy cow’)? And Carlton, you need to check out : http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/ to get yourself a “I Side Hug” t-shirt! I sure hope that God sees the need to get my family over to Belgium soon to join up with you all…and to figure out all of these akward Belgian greeting moments. BTW, in southern California we opt for the ‘high five’ so you can look that up on You Tube or something and practice before we get there!
I forgot to mention that I am the wife of Russ (some of you have met him). And, YES, WE KISS. I was talking about when I first meet people.
Come on, two more comments and we beat the daily record! Here’s one – I saw a woman today who needed a holy kiss. She was sitting next to me on the metro. Mid-60s. Her phone rang with some party ring that her granddaughter must have programmed. It took two rings before she even heard it. Then she tore through her purse to find her phone with the look of a person who doesn’t get many phone calls. Finally she answered it just in time, hopeful for human contact. Nope, wrong number. No one was really phoning her. She should have realized. She never gets phone calls. She got off at the next stop. It would have been weird beyond words but I wished I could have given her a holy kiss so she would remember she is loved.
[…] already left me in your eagerness to find out how your kissing can be sanctified, do head over to The Well’s daily devotion blog. And don’t forget to leave your comments here, I would LOVE to hear your feedback on this […]