Why Can't We Be Friends? by Aimee Byrd

Author:Aimee Byrd [Aimee Byrd]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: P&R Publishing
Published: 2018-05-28T00:00:00+00:00

A Religion of Incestuous Lust, or Supernatural Siblings?

We are supernaturally adopted siblings in Christ. “Adoption changes status. It also changes hearts. It changes everything.”29 This is why Christians are directly addressed in Scripture as siblings so many times—ninety-two times, to be exact.30 Aasgaard notes that this affectionate form of address is used more frequently by Paul in the practical sections of his letters, where the theology he has just taught is applied to Christian behavior and relationships.31 The Romans recognized this special affection and let their imaginations run wild. Nevertheless, Paul uses it to appeal to Christians to remember who they are and how they are related to one another. He also uses this direct address when he shares secret knowledge. For example, “Now I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters . . .” (1 Cor. 10:1 CSB), or “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters . . .” (1 Thess. 4:13 CSB).32 This method of address makes us lean in, paying extra attention as we receive exclusive teaching. Something special is revealed to us that changes the way we think and live.

Christians have a high standard that comes with our status as siblings. As antiquity shows us, siblingship comes with rights and obligations and honor and affection among members of a family. But siblings in Christ have an even higher calling. Since we are siblings in Christ, we ought to pray (see 1 Thess. 5:25), we ought to stand firm (see 1 Cor. 15:58), we ought to turn from idolatry (see 1 Cor. 10:14), and we especially ought to rejoice in the Lord (see Phil. 3:1).33

Let’s return to the Roman accusation that Christianity is a religion of lust. What should our witness be to the outside world? We should model sibling solidarity, in which siblings honor one another, have affection for one another, live in harmony, promote familial unity, mature together, and treasure our special sibling relationship. Ancient siblings lived by this ideal, and they were tied by only a narrow bloodline. They cherished their special relationship as a way to get them through life. But ours is the bloodline of Christ, which carries with it victory over sin, grace that abounds, transformative sanctification, and life everlasting. We are not just living for a legacy here on earth. We are new creations with a holy eternal destiny.

We have not only a supernatural sibling status, but a supernatural love. Paul tells us in Romans to “love one another deeply as brothers and sisters.” Rather than merely honoring one another, we are to “outdo one another in showing honor” (Rom. 12:10 CSB).

When instead we regard one another as temptations, as means merely of gratifying sexual desires, or as threats to our image, and we do not regard one another honorably as brothers and sisters, we are not loving deeply. And what, then, does the world see about God’s plan for his household? For the new earth? Are we suggesting that we have a

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