And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

Matthew 5:47

The last post I spent a lot of time discussing world views, there Christ is building the Biblical world view on how we should honor and respect others. A salute, or a greeting, often as a military greeting, but any gesture that shows peace and respect during a greeting or departure is a salute. We do this today, we greet people with a handshake, or a wave. It’s a way to honor a person, and it requires humility by the person offering the gesture, and a level of respect by the person returning the gesture.

When I was in the military, this was drilled into our being, how to respect those in authority. The salute was performed with humility to show respect for the chain of command. To stand at attention and salute a ranking officer was rewarding because I knew It would be reciprocated.

Naturally we are more comfortable with people who are like us, “your brethren”. Today we call that being in a clique, or being in silo, or being with like minded people. That is find, but it’s how we react to people, this takes training. The cultural aspects of this verse are so relevant to our modern society. We should treat everyone we meet the same, all people are Imago Dei, they are made in the image of God.

Jesus is telling us, go out of your way, and treat everyone as if they are important to us. No personal attribute, such as skin color, shape of nose, style of clothing, class, these are all people, deserving of common respect, common curious greeting of peace. People are all unique and they all have differences, handicaps, abilities, attributes, these are not even controlled by them.

No man should ever be treated as an enemy, they should always be greeted in love and compassion, with respect. Never obfuscating people to their least common denominators. Demeaning speech should never leave our mouth.

I’ve seen people talk down to others in mean and awful ways, usually assigning demeaning terms that create tension rather than peace. Dignity and respect should be given to all people, and it’s tougher now as Satan has picked the barbs of this porcupine we call “Politically Correct” speech. As Christians we must find the pathway to greetings that express this dignity without compromising truth.

Our modus operendi (general mode of operation) should always be peace, respect, compassion and above all love.

Lord, move in my heart to treat all I meet with compassion and love. My goal is reaching the souls of men for you Lord, not for my kingdom, but for Your Eternal Kingdom.