To Be Brothers and Sisters in Christ

Our Open Door family belongs to the Brethren in Christ U.S. denomination. But what does it mean to adopt this label “Brethren in Christ”? There are of course many theological views that we could focus on, such as the denomination’s positions on non-violence or materialism, or our beliefs on baptism and foot washing. But for this devotion I would like to focus on the name itself, as the label “Brethren in Christ” reflects our intended group identity as a faith community.

The name “Brethren” (and eventually “Brethren in Christ,” chosen in response to the Civil War era military draft) was adopted in the 1800s among communities of Anabaptist/Pietist Christians living near the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. It was taken from the language of the Bible, specifically the Greek term adelphoi that Paul used for his readers. This term, now often translated with the inclusive “brothers and sisters,” had its most basic meaning with reference to biological and adoptive siblings, but in the ancient world was often extended to anyone marked by a close affinity – a “brother/sister” in spirit if not by blood. We can see these ideas at play in Paul’s remark at the beginning of his letter to the Corinthians:

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you but that you be knit together in the same mind and the same purpose. (1 Corinthians 1:10, NRSVue)

Paul’s choice of words (and the choice made by our denominational predecessors) is important, for he did not refer to his fellow Christians as “members” or “participants” in a church institution, but instead adopted a familial term that pointed to a shared identity in Christ. To be a follower of Jesus was not simply to be an individual who participates in a group, it was to belong to a family, to have “brothers and sisters” from very different walks of life now brought together through Jesus.

And Paul is not alone in his use of such language. The Scriptures are in fact filled with familial terms whether in reference to God (Matthew 28:19; John 17:1, 20:17; Romans 8:15; Ephesians 1:3; etc.) or to the new people created through Jesus Christ (Matthew 23:8; John 21:23; Galatians 6:10; Ephesians 2:19; 1 Peter 2:17; etc.). Such language stresses that relationships rather than theological concepts ought to lie at the heart of one’s Christian life.

We use such language ourselves when we begin the Lord’s Prayer with the words “Our Father.” Father is a distinctly relational term, a claim that we are in family-like fellowship with God rather than a description like a theologically inclined person might do with words like “omnipresent.” But relational language is also found with that first word: Our. To say that God is our Father is to say that we are together in relationship with him. It is to identify not just as sons and daughters to God, but as brothers and sisters with other Jesus-followers.

Anthropologists and Biblical Scholars describe this situation with the term “fictive kinship,” a way of referring to communities marked by strong relational bonds that are not rooted in blood or by marriage. This idea is reflected in Jesus’s words once spoken in response to a visit from his biological family:

“Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:48-50, NRSVue)

Some religious traditions locate “kinship” among their members in a shared set of doctrines or a commitment to a particular hierarchy. For the Brethren in Christ, relational bonds are grounded in the shared experience of Christ in baptism and a shared commitment to a life of obedience to his teachings. This focus on ethos rather than a specific set of positions historically enabled the Brethren to maintain fellowship with one another in the face of disagreement. The idea at the root of this is simple: If in Christ God has created a new “people” founded not on self-selected groups based on personal interests, politics, or social class but on the self-sacrificial life of Jesus, then our social alignments ought not challenge our obligation to love one another as brothers and sisters.

To be “in agreement” and “without division” as Paul suggests in 1 Corinthians does not mean that there are no differences or disagreements within this family. Within our BIC family there are many differences, often because of where our churches and ministries take place. And we have disagreements as well. But through them our desire is to uphold a fundamental commitment to one another as brothers and sisters rather than opponents.

One fellow BIC pastor once put it well: “It is precisely in this context of fellowship that the work of building relationships happens. This is why the New Testament speaks so often of the importance of one another. We are sustained on our journey with God in the fellowship of one another. … On nearly every page of the New Testament, everything that we are and everything that we do happens in the context of intimate relationships” (Anderson, 95).

Brethren in Christ Resources

• History of the Brethren in Christ. https://bicus.org/about/history

• Chuck Anderson, “Belonging to the Community of Faith” pages 75-91 in Focusing Our'Faith: Brethren in Christ Core Values (Terry L. Bresinger, ed.)

• “Thinking Theologically About the Church in the Post-COVID Era” by Matthew Peterson. BIC Great Lakes Conference. https://www.theseed.online/deeper-theology’

• “So That The World May Believe” by Alan Robinson. BIC U.S. blog. April 13, 2023. https://bicus.org/2023/04/so-that-the-world-may-believe

• John R. Yeatts, “Can a Congregation Be the Church? The Brethren in Christ in a Postmodern Age”. Brethren in Christ History & Life 39.1 (April 2016): pages 75-83. https://bic-history.org/journal-articles/can-a-congregation-be-the-church

Non-BIC Resources

• “God’s Global Family” from The Bible Project podcast. https://bibleproject.com/podcast/gods-global-family

• “A New Family” from the Exploring My Strange Bible podcast. https://bibleproject.com/podcast/ephesians-part-2-new-family'

• “A Family for Everyone” by Sam Allberry. Plough Magazine. August 2022. https://www.plough.com/en/topics/community/singleness/a-family-for-everyone

• “Jesus’ Surprising Family Values” by Charles E. Moore. Plough Magazine. November 2022. https://www.plough.com/en/topics/community/education/jesus-surprising-family-values