What does it mean to be a friend? Is friendship a function of time? or is it a function of depth? How does one become a friend, and what is the cost of such becoming?
I suppose it is natural for me to ask such questions; after all, I have little experience in such things. I have been a ship sailing an empty sea, occasionally I would come along side another vessel and stop to talk, but the talk ended with the leaving and there was never more to be said. If friendship is a function of time I never had enough to spend, and if it is a function of depth I never dove far enough. I have always feared to hold my friends to close, lest they cut me with goodbyes.
Yet, that is not how it is supposed to be. We were called into communion. Christ asked the Father that we would be one in Him, just as He and His Father were one. What greater love could their be than a love, a friendship, that takes a plurality of people and makes them one? If such friendship is a function of time then we must make the time, and if a function of depth we must be willing to dive all the deeper. It is the shallow fellowship of a weekly linked community that has often stifled the church.
This last week I was challenged in my Sunday School class with the question, "What must you do in order for the church to return to the 'spiritual parent' and 'spiritual child' relationships that once defined the Christian walk?" If we think of Paul and Timothy, how they lived and worked together, walking over the many miles of road in their travels. Paul then told Timothy that he was to pass on the teachings of Paul, teachings learned in real life and in struggle, to faithful men who would teach others also.
Could I walk such a road? Do I have the courage and strength to keep walking despite the stonings and beatings, despite the pain. Could I learn to love even when it is hard, even when I don't want to and the distraction of my books and papers sounds like a Sirens call? I cannot help but think that this is exactly what I must do, and that scares me.
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1 comment:
ah yes, the risk of friendship and true community.
Change will always happen--it's always going to be hard. But it's worth it. Community and even the attempt at discipleship--it's always worth it, because it is obedience, and what God calls us to.
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