Before the apostle Peter started following Jesus, he was part of a fishing business. He and his brother Andrew were partners with James and John, and apparently they often hired other fishermen besides (Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:4-10).
For that reason, I find it very intriguing that Peter is the only Bible writer who used the term “brotherhood” to describe the Christian family. “Love the brotherhood,” he wrote (1 Peter 2:17), which has a different slant than simply saying, “Love your brother.” The 19th-century Bible scholar James Strong compared it to our English word “fraternity” (although I’m sure he didn’t have today’s wild college frat-boy stereotype in mind).
In Peter’s fishing business, any plans for repairing boats or purchasing new equipment would have to pass the “Is it good for the group?” test. Anything Peter did would affect James, and anything John did would affect Andrew. At a much deeper level, that’s how we should think of Christian harmony. By virtue of our common faith in Jesus Christ, we are a brotherhood! Anything I do will affect you; and whatever I do should be good for the group, not just for me.
Of course we should embrace all fellow Christians personally; but we should also love the fact that a global community of believers exists. As Christians, you and I both have permanent membership cards for that divine, fraternal alliance. Moreover, the real proof comes during times of trouble. In the only other New Testament use of the word, Peter reminded Christians that they share the sufferings “experienced by your brotherhood in the world” (1 Peter 5:9).
I saw a friend post something that bears affirming: As a Christian, I have a closer relationship with any other Christian than with anyone else, even someone of my own ethnicity, heritage, or other classification.
I am a white American of Germanic and Scottish descent. Yet I have a closeness of relationship with Christians who are Asian or black that I can never have with anyone who is not a Christian believer-- even someone named Karl-Jürgen McDougal, or even a blood relative.
This is something to enjoy-- something to relish and even boast about! Look what God has done in the Church through the work of Jesus Christ! People have tried for millennia to join themselves together, but opposing forces always drive apart those very same proponents of unity. Yet Christian harmony means we are members of one another and of the brotherhood of Christ.
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