I don’t call you servants any longer, because servants don’t know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because everything I heard from my Father I have made known to you. — John 15:15
You can learn a lot about friendships from your kids.
My son has a best friend, Sam. My daughter has a best friend, Sophie. The interactions are the same. There’s complete honesty. There’s the assumption that the friend will always be there whenever needed. Call or visit any time. There’s total trust. There’s enjoyment of the other person for simply who they are. There’s a fearlessness in trying new things together. There’s a willingness to sacrifice without counting the cost. There’s a long, shared history that serves to deepen and grow the relationship.
Sam and Sophie came to mind when I heard Tennessee Ernie Ford sing “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” on Pandora. (I realize this makes me sound like a dinosaur, but I have a weakness for old hymns.) Jesus relating to us as easily as my children relate to their best friends? Shouldn’t we envision him that way when we read the Gospels? When we pray to him? That he’s actually a lot more fun, and a lot less stuffy, than we have been taught?
Maybe that should be the definition of a Christian: one who relates to Jesus as a dynamic, living-and-breathing person to go through life with. And like a good friend, perhaps he even changes because of the relationship with you, just as you change because of him.
And maybe that should be the definition of the church: people who are bonded together as the “Friends of Jesus” family. There’s a reason I call Sam, “son #2,” and Sophie, “daughter #2.” We’re family, just like folks in the church should be.