Are We Really Sisters and Brothers In Christ?

In a supposedly Christian nation, America, does it matter how we treat each other? The current atmosphere is filled with division of every level, man against woman, brown against white, left against right, etc. But is this the way it is supposed to be for CHRISTIANS?

Ask people the question, "What is most important to you?" and one of the answers you will definitely get is the answer: FAMILY. Family is a source of unconditional love, safety, and security. Friends come and go but family is forever. Because the family unit is so important, The Christian Bible uses it to help the Christian understand how they are to treat and interact with others. The Bible uses the relationship of SISTER and BROTHER in particular to instruct how Christians should treat other Christians. Take a moment and think about your relationship with your own sister or brother. How do you treat your own sibling?

The Bible includes several verses about being brothers and sisters in Christ, including John 13:34-35, Matthew 12:48-50, and Hebrews 10:19. These verses describe how Christians should love one another and work together for the common good. Hebrews 10:19 "And now we are brothers and sisters in God's family because of the blood of Jesus. 1 John 4:21 "The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister, in both word and deed." Being a brother or sister in Christ means being part of God's family and sharing in Christ's love.

"For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:48-50). God calls us to be brothers and sisters in Christ, by loving each other as we love ourselves and working together to do good works unto the community around us and to work together to make disciples for Him. Right now, Republicans are only loving Republicans (Democrats only Democrats), each ethnic group their own selves, Christians only Christians. You get the picture, and it is an unbiblical picture.

American history includes Christian history. A history many desire not to be taught in schools and universities. From the start, Christians sought to convert everyone they came into contact with to Christianity. In early American history this included the Native American and the Black slaves. Christian Europeans saw converting native peoples as essential to "saving" them. A running theme in the conversion of slaves also. In Pennsylvania, many religious groups - particularly Protestant denominations imported from England, Scotland, and Germany - sought to Christianize natives.

In the early American Christian's zeal to spread the gospel and win souls to Christ, a PROBLEM arose. If the Native American or slave became a CHRISTIAN, then they were biblically SISTERS and BROTHERS in Christ and afforded a CERTAIN kind of LOVE and TREATMENT! This was a problem on so many levels for the early American Christian. What ever would they do?

Interactions between enslaved people and Christian missionaries (and other evangelists) led to the spread of Christianity among Black Americans. Many slaveowners initially resisted these evangelistic efforts partially out of concern that if enslaved people became Christians, they would see themselves as their owners’ equals. By 1706, this fear by slaveowners had spurred legislation in at least six colonies declaring that an enslaved person’s baptism did not entail their freedom. Yep! A LAW was made AGAINST the Christian Bible.

YES! Early American Christians IGNORED the Bible's admonition to treat their FELLOW Christian as a sister or brother. They went beyond just ignoring the mandate to treat their fellow Christian with unconditional love and were downright EVIL to them. Are Christians ignoring the same Bible mandate now in how they treat illegal aliens, the poor, or people of different cultural backgrounds? Christian CRUELTY is a part of Christian History.

From the time Europeans arrived on American shores, the frontier—the edge territory between white man’s civilization and the untamed natural world—became a shared space of vast, clashing differences that led the U.S. government to authorize over 1,500 wars, attacks and raids on Indians, the most of any country in the world against its Indigenous people. By the close of the Indian Wars in the late 19th century, fewer than 238,000 Indigenous people remained, a sharp decline from the estimated 5 million to 15 million living in North America when Columbus arrived in 1492. https://www.history.com/news/native-americans-genocide-united-states. 

Early colonists saw the spread of disease, such as smallpox brought to the new land by the settlers, among Native Americans as God’s plan for them to settle the area or as God’s wrath for the sinful life of Native Americans. Native Americans’ susceptibility to disease was also used against them. The Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole nations were known as America’s Five Civilized Tribes because of their quick and skillful adaptation to the “white man’s ways.” The U.S. government felt threatened by these tribes and saw them as a barrier to expansion. The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson in 1830. But the Act was far from humane and merciful. Thousands of Native Americans would perish on the journey west, known as the Trail of Tears. The Choctaw was the first nation expelled from their land in 1831. They made the journey on foot, some bound in chains, without food, supplies, or the help promised by the government. Thousands perished along the way.

Slaves in the United States were often subjected to sexual abuse and rape, the denial of education, and punishments like whippings. Families were often split up by the sale of one or more members, usually never to see or hear of each other again. Slaves were often branded or cruelly mistreated. Their owners could also kill them for any reason and would face no punishment.

The Bible and Christianity were used by those in power or seeking power to do harm to others, keep them in their place, or to make them a lesser person. When needed, certain parts of the Bible were just ignored. 

According to the 2023 PRRI Census of American Religion, about two-thirds of Americans (66%) identify as Christian. This includes 41% who identify as white Christians and 25% who identify as Christians of color. This should be a country overflowing with Sisterly and brotherly LOVE. But it isn't.

American and Religious History has shown us how we are willing to treat each other. While proclaiming Christ we are not living Christlike, as a family that loves one another as we love ourselves. Being a Christian is more than voting for a particular candidate, party, or biblical cause, it's about how we treat each other. To my knowledge the Golden Rule is still in effect for ALL Christians, "Treat others the way you want to be treated," which includes fellow and non-fellow Christians.

So, I end with the question I first posed, "Are we really sisters and brothers in Christ?"