“You adulterers! Don’t’ you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4-6 NLT)
What would you say is the basis of a strong relationship? Think of your five closest friends? Who are they? How did you meet? What do they have in common? What holds you together? How well do you know them? Could you call them at 2:00 a.m. and they’d come running? Who do you go to for counsel? If you have a financial problem, who do you turn to? How about a physical problem? Relational? Emotional? Spiritual?
What comprises friendship with the world? Is Paul here speaking of actual friends or is he referring to the core of how we think? The center of our desires? What motivates, inspires, encourages, and stirs us to action? What is the underlying conviction we hold that determines where we draw the proverbial line?
Is Jesus your friend? How do you know? How do you measure friendship with Jesus? With anyone? Would you lay down your literal life for Jesus? If someone held a gun to your head and said: “Deny Jesus or I’ll blow your head off!” Would you buckle or go to heaven without a head? Why even ask these questions?
Every day we move closer to or further away from the Lord, and a major factor in which way we go is the presence of people with whom we’re most frequently exposed. Family, especially when we’re young, is a major influence on us. Statistically, if a person grows up in a non-Christian environment, according to some studies, only about 6% of adults will ever make a commitment to Christ. 83% come to the Lord between the ages of 4-14 years of age.
Beyond family, close friends are a tremendous influence on us, as children and as adults. We have drinking “buddies,” we go to parties where alcohol, drugs, and sex are available. The only pornographic movie I ever saw was at the invitation of a “friend,” but I had no clue what I was going to see.
We wonder why our commitment to Christ is so lax and ineffective when we very often have no strong ties to anyone who really loves and serves Jesus. Even our friends from church are too often lacking in spiritual disciplines. Too many rarely read God’s Word, pray, or are a part of a Christian men’s or women’s group. Our primary base of “friends” is too often our work or bowling/golfing/drinking buddies or maybe a neighbor.
Here’s the bottom line: to grow in our life in Christ we have to be committed, not only to a growing, Christ-centered church, we’ve got to nurture Christ-centered friendships. We have to have people in our lives who will hold us accountable to develop and keep our spiritual disciplines, where we spend our time and how, and who we’re helping develop in their walk with Christ.
One of the most effective ways to stay close to Christ is to be discipling someone else. Like the Apostle Paul, ask others to follow you as you follow Christ. And I know this can be intimidating, but you don’t need to be a college graduate to lead a first grader, you only need to be a second grader. You don’t need to know everything, just more than they know, assuming, of course, you have someone pouring into you.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 