MrWonder's Bible Chat

Paul believed in Christian sociability. You see this in his every epistle; while in the last of Romans, he speaks of greeting or saluting twenty-two different times.

Shaking hands is peculiarly the Christian salutation, and its exercise develops Christian sociability. A great deal of religion can be expressed in a hand-shake. If it is not natural for you to shake hands, you should cultivate this habit until it becomes natural.

Do not, however, indulge in the vice-shake that some people give, when they almost crush the fingers or crack the joints of the hands they clasp.

Avoid also the pump-handle shake that swings the hands up and down three or four times.

The dead-fish hand-shake is the worst of all.

I often meet persons who merely put out the hand and give no clasp whatever, but leave their fingers extended, so that if I did not take hold of the hand, it would certainly fall. I would about as soon clasp the tail of a dead fish as such a hand. I pity such persons, however, for they either lack heart or strength of character.

In the social greeting, let us give a hearty, animated, Christian clasp of hand. Force of character and largeness of heart can be greatly developed by the proper exercise of hand-shaking.

1. Be sociable in the true sense of the term. Christ, our Exemplar, was very sociable, so much so that He was truly called "the Friend of sinners."

The best people are most sociable. Get a half-dozen ministers together, and if they do not indulge in more true wit, humor, and Christian sociability in an hour than any other half-dozen man, it is because you can find others as good as they are.

2. Express cheerful sociality in your face. Some faces are so stolid that they never lighten up when you meet them, or express any more animation than the face of a clock.

3. Do not have such a mean disposition or weak mind as to give or take a slight. "Be courteous." "Be patient." Do not look for slights, or you will be sure to think you discover them. Nine-tenths of the slights taken were never meant at all.

Do not wait for persons to salute you on the street or greet you in the church first, and then complain that you are slighted. Those who complain the most are usually the least sociable, and themselves most to blame.

Some people always have good neighbors and kind friends; while others find their neighbors selfish, mean and hard to get along with. How is this? Jesus explains it, "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." ( Matt 7:2 )

Some persons find the people, more or less, sociable in every church they attend; but others always find the churches cold, formal and stiff, and complain, "No person spoke to me," or "No person shook hands with me." Why this difference? The wise man accounts for it, "A man that hath friends must show himself friendly." ( Prov 18:24 )

4. Be sociable at home. I like the practice in so many homes of saying "Good-night," as they are retiring, and, as they meet again, "Good morning."

5. Be sociable in the church. If our churches lack sociality, it is because they lack the Spirit of the Lord. Have you not noticed how sociable people are during and after a genuine revival?

Some in our churches are babies and have to be spoon-fed. It is necessary to have a "silver-spoon" for such. Paul recognized this. ( 1 Cor 3:1-2; Heb 5:12-14 )

The ushers in the churches should be very sociable, and especially so with strangers and young people.

In our churches, we should not expect the pastor and a few others to shake hands with everybody. That would be doing the business by wholesale. We should do a large retail business; that is, in each service everyone should shake hands with two or more persons. Let us shake hands with our friends and strangers, with youths and adults, with Christians and unconverted, with the poor especially, and do not slight the rich.

6. Be sociable with strangers. Many good people, and even ministers while very cordial and sociable with their own church members and pew-holders, neglect to get acquainted with and to be sociable with strangers. This is a lamentable mistake..

Mr. D. L. Moody tells of a husband, wife and large family that were all won to Christ and the Church by a smile and a nod to the children from a sociable minister as he passed by their home from time to time.

How sociable and affable all sensible persons become when they are electioneering for votes for themselves or others.

We should remember that we are electioneering for Jesus Christ, so we should always and everywhere be kind and sociable, and thus win persons, not merely to ourselves, but also to accept Christ and His salvation, and to "crown Him Lord of all."

Brother Love