The 1950’s movie, “The King and I,” was an adaptation of a broadway musical with the same name that debuted in 1951. The main character is Anna (played by Deborah Kerr), a widowed British schoolteacher, hired to tutor the King of Siam’s many children. She begins to form a relationship with the children by singing the song “Getting to Know You.” Some of the words to that song are:
“Getting to know you
Getting to know you
Getting to know all about you
Getting to like you
Getting to hope you like me.”
Anna clearly understood that in order to be an effective teacher to these children she really needed to know them well.
The Bible is chock full of instruction on how Christians should interact with each other. These teachings are commonly referred to as “The One Another Commands.” We are commanded to “love one another” (John 13:34-35), “care for one another” (1 Corinthians 12:25), “pray for one another” (James 5:16), “be kind to one another” (Ephesians 4:32), “teach one another” (Colossians 3:16), and many more. The only way to effectively put these commands into practice is to “know one another.” You can’t effectively love someone, pray for someone, or care for another Christian if you don’t really know them.
“Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.” (Romans 12:10-13)
Do you really know the Christians you fellowship with at church each week? Do you really know those Christians you work with each day? How about your Christian neighbor, do you know him/her? You can’t really get to know someone thru Facebook or other social media outlets, often you will only know the persona that they want you to see. Hospitality, as mentioned in Romans 12:13, is two fold, it is offering food, shelter, and protection to strangers as well as having intimate fellowship with other believers. What Christian might God lead you to this week?
“What greater thing is there for two human souls, than to feel that they are joined together, to strengthen each other in all labor, to rest on each other in all sorrow, to minister to each other in all pain, to be one with each other in silent unspeakable memories?” -George Eliot
What are you doing to obey the “One Another Commands” of Scripture?