Indicative of how words have ceased to lose their power in so much of our communication (i.e. love, awesome, etc.), there are the almost meaningless terms that have become part of our cyber-speak. One of the prime examples from a few years ago as Facebook lingo was entering the world of normal people was the ubiquitous “BFF”–best friends forever. What made it more humorous was the way the word “friend” is rendered practically worthless in the Facebook world on a regular basis.
When you look up the definition of “friend” online you find examples such as “a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard” (dictionary.com) and “a person whom one knows, likes, and trusts” (Free Online dictionary). Friendship is a fascinating study. I have often told my children that if they have a single friend in high school or college with whom they are able to maintain a relationship through the rest of their life they will be fortunate indeed. That is not a blessing that most people have.
One of the things that has intrigued me about friendship is it’s evolution. While I certainly cannot speak for the experience of another person, I have found it almost impossible to trace when a friendship truly began. We just simply remember ourselves as friends. It also seems that it can be the strangest of circumstances that bring about a friendship. As this progressing relationship forms, a friendship (in it’s truest sense) can survive some pretty difficult things. I began ruminating on this today as I considered a statement written by C.S. Lewis in The Four Loves:
“What draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth. They share it.”
Most of us have had this experience. Maybe it is sharing a love of the same books. Maybe it is finding yourselves think on the same wavelength (as strange as it may be 
). Possibly it is simply that you value the same things. Maybe it is because the gospel of Christ has ministered to you both in the same compelling way. But whatever it is, it has drawn you to one another–and it has created a bond that has allowed you to survive not just good times and bad, but strengthen one another in the process. One of the greatest joys of my life is to be able to say with sincerity that my bride of 23 years remains my best friend on this earth.
I am so thankful for the many friendships that I have been privileged to enjoy. And if you have those you call good friends then you know that friendship is a serious matter. Goerge Washington understood that quite well:
“Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.”
I started with the idea that we are living in a time when friendship can often be taken far too lightly. One of the things we know is that at the base of true friendship is commitment. No one showed the depth of friendship like the Lord Jesus Christ. It is He that said:
“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15: 13)
By the way, I am thrilled to be able to say that I have some wonderful friends. But there is not a friendship that matters more than the one I share with Jesus. I hope you are able to say the same.
Amen! I have an un-believing friend – we have been through some of the roughest patches you can imagine. But, God put us in each other’s lives for a purpose, I don’t doubt that. Our friendship is the real deal, and I thank God everyday. Pray that my friend will accept Jesus, so we can share His Light. God bless you, Pastor Jeff – this is a wonderful, thought provoking article.
The wife won’t let me comment. Said I’d be eating cold cereal and sleeping’ on couch. I don’t mind the couch, it’s broken in by now. But I need me some eggs and bacon in the morning’.
So which did you get? The couch or the bacon and eggs?