Friends of God

Jesus was crazy busy taking care of people. He loved his work.

He also enjoyed down time and the hospitality of friends. Lazarus, Martha and Mary are a prime example of this. See Luke 10:38ff, John 11 and 12.

The twelve disciples and most others associated with Jesus were focused on his role as rabbi, Master, Lord. This made them disciples, students, servants, employees, assistants, subordinates.

Lazarus, Martha and Mary were friends. Jesus liked hanging at their house.

In John 13-15, Jesus calls his disciples to move beyond mere "servanthood" as valuable as that is, to friendship.

In Revelation 3:19, this invitation to friendship is universalized. Jesus is pictured seeking intimacy with all.

Friendship with God confers privileges. We can argue with him like Moses and Abraham did. (They are the only two individuals in the OT specifically called friends of God.)

Friendship also confers privileges on God. God is free to count on his friends in wild and dramatic ways. For example Job--a favorite of God--was God's second in a dual with the devil! And Lazarus is deliberately allowed to die and his sisters are deliberately bereaved -- to show God's glory and Jesus' power.

A final responsibility/privilege of friends of God is to push God toward greater mercy. Moses and Abraham argued with God against his wrath and in favor of his mercy. They won their arguments and made God look good.

Jonah and James and John argued for greater severity. They also lost their arguments (God still looked good. He still exercised mercy.) But these "friends" ended up looking like chumps and fools.

This is something Christians should think about if they are inclined to wax vehement in their condemnation of their favorite bogeymen--homosexuals, liberals, evolutionists, unwed mothers, Hollywood producers, Muslims, New Age types, etc. There is, of course, a place for convictions about what is true and wise. Vehement condemnations of "those people" people we think are utterly unlike ourselves is unbecoming for a friend of God.


So Jesus is seeking friendship with us. We can cultivate that friendship through trust and obedience, through arguing, through joyful communion, through prayer, study, meditation, through healing, compassion and generosity.

If we seek him, we are cooperating with him in the pursuit of what he wants most from people.