THE COMPANY WE KEEP

Ecclesiastes 4:1-6:12; 2 Corinthians 6:17-7:7; Psalm 47:1-9; Proverbs 22:16

“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”

“Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?”

“God has ascended with a mighty shout. The Lord has ascended with trumpets blaring.
 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises!
 For God is the King over all the earth. Praise him with a psalm!”

My wife and I just got back from having dinner with friends we had not seen in a year or more. For over a decade, we’d shared the same church and many of the same friends. We built ministries, raised kids and laughed and cried together. But eventually, as it usually does, life intervened. New opportunities came knocking, and off they moved to Arkansas to the chagrin of all they left behind. It was positively delightful to catch up on what life has held for them these last months. Like all really good friends, though, the best part of being together with them was that they made us feel better about ourselves. I actually caught myself thinking at one point that to have such special friends must mean that we have something to offer in that department as well. That’s not self-centeredness talking. It’s the simple recognition of a powerful fact. Friends make friends better. One of the greatest compliments a professional basketball player can receive is the acknowledgement that he makes his teammates better. Good friendship is like that. When we are with folks like that, it’s actually good to think we might be known by the company we keep.

Solomon understood this well. There are precious few positive passages in his sad and despairing Book of Ecclesiastes, but one of the best is quoted above. Solomon knew that no man or woman, no matter how powerful or well-to-do, is ever as good alone as he or she is when paired with the right friends. Good friends get each others’ backs. Good friends make work go faster and better. Good friends pick each other up; as important, they keep each other from falling in the first place. Good friends keep each other warm. Still, even the most intimate friendships have their limits. Some don’t travel well. Some don’t tolerate the differences inherent in maturation and change. Some are limited to a specific purpose or goal. That’s why the very best friendships are a strand of three, with Jesus Christ serving as the tie that truly binds one soul to another.

This mutual relationship with and through Christ is the one thing that we and our friends truly shared. Our backgrounds were quite different. The circles we traveled in did not cross, except at church. Our interests were just as diverse, as were our family situations. But the Holy Spirit didn’t care about any of those “human” things that could have separated us. Because the Holy Spirit also saw something in us I doubt any of us even thought about at first, much less recognized. The Holy Spirit brought us together precisely because we were so different. We shared our differences until they became mutual strengths. We gave each other opportunities to experience and understand God in new and exciting – sometimes, even innovative and quite unorthodox – ways. Fundamentally, we made each other better because Christ was working in and through us to build his Body and make each of its parts stronger and more complete.

A three strand cord is better. Those joined together in Christ, not just man and wife but any two people, are much harder to separate. So, it only stands to reason that I could benefit from being more intentional about seeking out other Christians to befriend. I’m not talking about exclusive clubs or cliques. But it is clear that in the process of making disciples of all people, God also expects us to seek out and make friends with those of similar faith. He knows, better than we, that a shared faith is a transforming faith. Who among us couldn’t use a little transformation from time to time? When you think about it, isn’t that what the Body of Christ has always been about since the very beginning?