By: Dale Weckbacher
John 15:13
Greater love has no
one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
(ESV)
While social media has changed the way friends communicate
with each other, it has also changed how we view friends. In John
15:13-15, Jesus describes a level of friendship that goes beyond someone
friending us on Facebook. The Greek word
for friend in John
15:13 is philos or a level of friendship as one dearly loved and prized having
a personal and intimate relationship. It
also connotes a level of one being a trusted confidant. Since Jesus laid down His life for us all on
the cross, this describes Jesus’ level of friendship as an intimate philos
friendship.
Our response to this level of friendship should be obedience
to what Jesus commands us to do (John
15:14). However, this is not
obedience as a slave or servant but as one reciprocating the level of
friendship of one willing to lay down His life for them (John
15:15). Our continuing goal as
believers in Christ should be to achieve greater intimacy with the one that
laid down His life for our sins. However,
we often fail to achieve this level of friendship with God through Christ because
of,
1)
Sin – Sin was what separated Adam and Eve from
face-to-face intimacy with God (Genesis
3:8, 23). Since that day, all
humanity lives under the death penalty of sin (Romans
3:23; 6:23) and needs the savior promised in Genesis
3:15 who we now know is Jesus (Romans
5:8). However, even after receiving Jesus
as savior, we may struggle with sin for even the Apostle Paul had this struggle
(Romans
7:13-25). Thankfully, when becoming
aware of sin in our lives, we can receive forgiveness by confessing it to God (1
John 1:9). Therefore, we have no
excuse for allowing sin to come between us and intimacy with God.
2)
Lack of trust – Mark
9:14-29 records the account of Jesus healing a boy with an unclean
spirit. This account occurs after the
Transfiguration (Mark
9:2-13) as Jesus comes to the disciples who were unable to cast out the
unclean spirit. The father of the boy
declares his belief but asks for help with his unbelief (Mark
9:24). We can relate to this father because
all that have made a profession of faith in Jesus as their savior have a
measure of belief but will also encounter situations where they lack
belief. The use of the word belief in Mark
9:24 is pisteuo or having faith by implication. This is the level of faith one has when they
accept Jesus as his or her savior. The
word unbelief is the Greek word apistia indicating a lack of trust. Since close intimate friendships require
trust, a lack of trust presents a barrier to having close intimacy with
Christ. Since faith comes by hearing the
word of God (Romans
10:17), any lack of trust in God indicates a need for greater study and
meditation on God’s Word in the area in which we lack trust.
3)
Lack of spiritual disciplines – This lack of
trust can also indicate a lack of spiritual disciplines in a believer’s
life. These spiritual disciplines are prayer,
study and meditation on God’s Word, and being with other believers (Acts
2:42-43). For a believer in Christ,
these disciplines should be as much a part of life as eating and sleeping for
these disciplines feed and recharge the spirit and soul. As we consistently practice spiritual
disciplines, we begin to encounter God and have a more personal knowledge of
Jesus as our friend.
4)
Internal divisions in the Church – Anyone who
has ever experienced a church split can attest to how this stops God from
moving in that church through the church body experiencing loss of intimacy with
God and the Church’s missional focus. In
addition, some of the believers in a divided church may also lose trust in God
through becoming inconsistent in their practice of spiritual disciplines. In His discourse with the Disciples during
the Last Supper, Jesus taught that love for one another within the Church is
how the Church shows the world they are disciples of Christ (John
13:34-35).
Jesus has taken the first step in establishing a friendship
with each of us by offering His life to provide reconciliation to God lost in
the Garden of Eden (Genesis
3:8, 23). It is up to us to take the
next step of acceptance of Jesus’ friend request by seeking forgiveness from
sin, learning to trust God, practicing spiritual disciplines, and living in
harmony with other believers. For those
reading this who have not made the initial step of friending God through
accepting Jesus as their savior, I encourage you to pray with me now,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, spent
three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord
of my life.
Jesus is now your friend but like all friendships, it
becomes stronger when we spend time together to learn more about each other and
work out our differences instead of allowing them to divide us. I invite you to begin praying which is simply
talking to God just like you would do with anyone else. For a biblical example, I encourage using the
pattern of the Lord’s prayer (Matthew
6:9-13) and not just to recite the prayer.
I also encourage study and meditation on the Bible with a good place to
start being the Gospel of John that teaches about the love of God for us. I also encourage you to find a group of other
believers either in a church or Bible study as the mature believers in these
groups can guide you to a better friendship with Jesus. I encourage all reading this to develop a
closer friendship with Jesus, the one who knew no sin and yet took the death
penalty for our sins (Romans
5:8).
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