During one of the seasons of my Christian life, I attended a church where people referred to each other as “Brother” and “Sister.” There was “Brother Thompson,” “Sister Jenkins,” “Brother and Sister Johnson,” – you get the idea.
One day I was with a friend at a department store, and we ran into Brother Wallace from church. As I began to make the introduction, I said “This is my friend, Mark, and this is…….” At that moment, I realized that I didn’t know Brother Wallace’s first name.
I also realized right then what a sham the whole thing was. Although we were supposedly brothers and sisters, we didn’t even know each other’s names, much less our struggles, concerns, joys, shortcomings, and the like.
How thankful I am that today there are a handful of fellow journeyers around me. We share our lives with one another. Better yet, we serve a God who desires to be known and to know us intimately. To make a point, He said that He even counts the number of hairs on our heads.
If you and I should ever meet, let’s be sure and learn each other’s first names. Then let’s go on to deeper things. Perhaps one day, you’ll be able to say “I love him like a brother.” And vice versa.