And another Thing…..

Intro: Play on the word “another” very theological Christian concept.

Much is made of the “one another passages” as they tell ME how to FELLOWSHIP. But it is important to identify who is “another”.

A. I used to think it was A Nother and I had all kinds of strange ideas about those Nothers…J

a. The word means “a second of two”

b. We have a term “significant other”

…is a gender-blind, politically correct term to refer to a person's partner in an intimate relationship without disclosing or presuming anything about his or her marital status or sexual orientation. Its usage in both psychology and sociology is very different from its colloquial use. In psychology, a significant other is any person who has great importance to an individual's life or well-being. In sociology, it describes any person or persons with a strong influence on an individual's self-evaluation, which are important to this individual, as well as reception of particular social norms. This usage is synonymous with the term "relevant other" and can also be found in plural form—"significant others".

In social psychology a significant other is the parent, uncle, grandparent, or teacher - the person that guides and takes care of a child during primary socialization. The significant other protects, rewards and punishes the child as a way of aiding the child's development. This usually takes about six or seven years, and after that the significant other is no longer needed, the child moves on to a general other which is not a real person, but an abstract notion of what society deems good or bad.

c. Not a bad idea about who we are as brothers and sisters in Christ.

B. Paul uses one another but so do Peter and James.

a. 1 Pet 1:22; 3:8; 4:9; 4:10; 5:5; 14

b. James 2:25 (heteros) 4:11 (allos) 4:12; heteros; 5:9; 5:16 (Allos)

c. Heteros = another of different kind

d. Allos = numerical distinction

C. Jesus had others and significant others.

a. Disciples (Mathetes)

b. His Own (idios) John 10:1-12; 13:1; 15:19

c. Cf Acts 4:23; and Acts 4:13 (unlearned men – idiotes)

D. We need understand who we are to understand each other in terms of one another and we need to treat one another appropriately – like idiots!!

"Idiot" was originally created to refer to "layman, person lacking professional skill", "person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary reasoning".^[6][7] Declining to take part in public life, such as democratic government of the polis (city state), such as the Athenian democracy, was considered dishonorable. "Idiots" were seen as having bad judgment in public and political matters. Over time, the term "idiot" shifted away from its original connotation of selfishness and came to refer to individuals with overall bad judgment–individuals who are "stupid". In modern English usage, the terms "idiot" and "idiocy" describe an extreme folly or stupidity, its symptoms (foolish or stupid utterance or deed). In psychology, it is a historical term for the state or condition now called profound mental retardation.

Nietzsche claimed, in his The Antichrist, that Jesus was an idiot. This resulted from his description of Jesus as having an aversion toward the material world.^[19]

Sound familiar?

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13

I hope you won’t mind if I say what a joy it is to be with such lovely idiots this Lord’s Day?