the most common command

what’s the most common command in the New Testament?

L-is for the way you look at meeeee, O-is for the only one I see….ok I’ll spare you the whole song.  but i…I will always…love youuuu-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh…

alright let’s stop with the love songs.  because LOVE is NOT the most common command in the New Testament.

whaaaaaaaaat???

yep.  I just found this out.  the most common command in the New Testament is “Greet one another”.  Paul says it all the time in his letters, usually at the beginning or the end.  Take Romans 16, for example.  Nearly the whole chapter is devoted to Paul giving instructions to greet this whole list of people.  greet this person, greet that person, greet this church, etc.  I don’t know about you, but I tend to skim through the long sections of “greetings”. 

but, if it’s the most common command in the New Testament…I wonder if it’s something we ought to take a little more seriously?

I was challenged with this recently.

what would it look like to “greet one another” in my every day life?  I think it takes on a lot of different shapes. I think it’s making conversation with the cashier as you check out at the store.  I think it’s stopping to have at least a 2 minute conversation with someone at church instead of  smiling, saying “hi!”, and walking on.  I think it's putting my phone away while I’m out and about and instead of staring at my phone’s screen, making the effort to make eye contact with people, smiling, saying “hi!” as I pass by or acknowledging the people I’m standing in line next to at the check-out.

I think that by acknowledging others, we in a sense affirm their worth.  we attribute value to them.  they are worth our attention.  they are worth our time.  but it’s more than that.  just because I value someone or give them worth doesn’t mean squat.  I’m like…nobody.  but Jesus thinks they are worth it.  He thought they were worth dying on the cross for.  He valued them enough to be willing to be the ultimate sacrifice for their sins.

who knows how a greeting could completely change someone’s day?  what if someone’s at the end of their rope, but because you acknowledged them and attributed worth to them, they found enough encouragement to make it through another day?  what if that’s the way Jesus wants to reach out to them that day?

I mean, after all – it’s the most common command in the New Testament.  it was commanded for a reason.