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This last Journey Group meeting we got into a discussion around friendship. We asked each other about the real friendships we have in our lives. We asked ourselves 'what kind of friends are we'? This led to a time of reflecting upon our meaningful friendships with non-believers. Do we have any non-believer friends? What kind of friend are we? A good one? A not-so-good one?
I have continued to think about my friendships with both believers and non-believers. What kind of a friend am I? Am I truly loving them with the friendship that Christ showed/shows us?
I remembered a letter that I wrote to my oldest son on the topic of friendship which I felt like sharing with our group and community.
You can read it by clicking here.
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read it- I hope it challenges you as it continues to challenge me.
Michael
On behalf of BTO
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In reading through the Better Together book, Day 12 is dedicated towards building friendships as a way of being, "better together." As Christians, we should have good, healthy friendships with people who are believers and unbelievers alike. We should behave like Mike wrote on his blog in responding to either kind of person. However, this chapter has many problems within it that require us to examine it in light of Scripture.
The opening verse Warren uses in writing is 2 Corinthians 5:20, in the Message paraphrase, which says, "Become friends with God; He's already a friend with you." Warren continues by writing, "That's the message we're to tell the world, but we limit ourselves in how we can share this Good News if our only friends are other believers."
There are several major problems with this concept. First, the Message paraphrase mangles the true translation of God's Word. The NASB says more accurately: "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."
Here we find that God is not calling people to be friends, but to be reconciled to Him, through our actions as His ambassadors. People need to have themselves made right with God, because there is something wrong with them through sin. If they were friends, they wouldn't have to be reconciled. In fact, the Greek doesn't even use the word "philos" for "friend" anywhere in this verse, thereby showing the inaccuracy here.
Second, Warren said, "That's the message we're to tell the world..." First, that message cannot be found anywhere in the Bible. Being friends with the world is at enmity with God (James 4:4); God is not friends with people as-is. For example, in John 15:14, Jesus said to the Apostles, "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." (KJV) By that logic, since the world does not do whatever God commands us to do, they are not friends with God. Don't get me wrong, God wants people to be reconciled to Him and sent His only Son because he loved the world (John 3:16), but he is not "friends" with people in their unregenerate state.
Third, Warren continues, "...but we limit ourselves in how we can share this Good News if our only friends are other believers." Aren't believers already friends with God? There seems to be some logic missing in this sentence in reaching out.
This opening paragraph leads into a number of other problems with Warren's thoughts in this chapter, each of which needs to be examined against the Bible. But, the biggest one that stands out in my mind is where he says, "we earn the right to share the Gospel through relationship."
We earn the right to share the Gospel with anyone at any time because God has chosen us to do so. He gives us such commands, like that in Mark 16:15. Friendship can be a powerful tool in reaching people, but is not the only way to do this. We can share the Gospel through public preaching, sharing a tract, or even chatting someone up on an airplane. To say that a relationship must be established, in light of long-term friendships discussed in this chapter, is wrong.
I hope that everyone has great relationships with Christian friends and unsaved friends alike. And I encourage everyone to examine everything in light of Scripture, including my post.
--
Christian
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