GETTING THE RIGHT FOLKS IN OUR CORNER

Jeremiah 22:1-23:20; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12; Psalm 83:1-18; Proverbs 25:11-14

“This is what the Lord Almighty says to his people: ‘Do not listen to these prophets when they prophesy to you, filling you with futile hopes. They are making up everything they say. They do not speak for the Lord! They keep saying to those who despise my word, “Don’t worry! The Lord says you will have peace!” And to those who stubbornly follow their own desires, they say, “No harm will come your way!” Have any of these prophets been in the Lord’s presence to hear what he is really saying? Has even one of them cared enough to listen? Look! The Lord’s anger bursts out like a storm, a whirlwind that swirls down on the heads of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not diminish until it has finished all he has planned. In the days to come you will understand all this very clearly.”

“So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

“Timely advice is lovely, like golden apples in a silver basket. To one who listens, valid criticism is like a gold earring or other gold jewelry. Trustworthy messengers refresh like snow in summer. They revive the spirit of their employer.”

We cannot do it alone. Long story short, when it comes to getting through life, there really is no such thing as a happy, fulfilled, rugged individualist. Oh, I know. Plenty of folks fancy themselves to be so. But I know very few humans who are living life as they were created to live it and fulfilling the purposes for which they were intended by the Creator who are doing so on their own. We were designed to live in fellowship. I’m sure the analogy of the redwoods is old hat to most. Still, it’s worth reminding ourselves that the tallest trees in the world only got to be that way by intertwining their roots so much that they essentially form an endless net beneath the trees. No one tree can fall because they are all so intimately joined that they support each other. Only in this way do the trees reach their full potential. And that is why these majestic creations are not found in singles or even doubles. To mix metaphors once more, it truly does take a village to raise a child. When we forget to see ourselves as children of the Father and get all puffed up with our independence and “adultness,” we cut ourselves from the support He intends His children to have.

None of this is new. We understand it instinctively. Yet, many of us continue to actively resist it in our humanness. “Vulnerability” is almost a four letter word we typically translate at some point as “embarrassment.” We do not want others to know our weaknesses, lusts or worldly visions, at least not on a personal level. It is curious, for example, that there probably has never been a generation so obsessed with privacy yet so inconsistently willing to expose their every action to anyone who wants to “friend” them on the Internet. We are far more intimate online than in person. In fact, cynical parent that I am, it almost seems we as a culture are actually becoming more comfortable communicating online via e-mail, texting and Facebook, et al., than face-to-face. What a shame! No person is an island, but some of us are wasting a whole lot of relationship with our determination to be associated but not connected.

The sad thing is, this is almost understandable, especially in Christian circles, where it should not happen at all. Still, the number of evil ones among us who would take advantage of a vulnerable soul is staggering. My wife was telling me just this morning of a preacher who accused a parishioner of blackmail from the pulpit because the parishioner had the gall to question the preacher’s use of church funds. Oh, we are a fallen bunch! It is undeniably tough to know for sure exactly who to trust. Moreover, when betrayal comes from inside the family, it hurts more and does even more damage.

What are we to do when we need fellowship but cannot trust it? I actually think there’s a pretty certain test. It’s very simple. It’s also pretty limiting. Still, it is the most valid litmus test there is for discerning which of our acquaintances are honestly worthy of the title “true friend.” Here it is: the true friend is one who prays diligently for you, and in the power of that prayer, finds the strength and courage to share his or her heart with you fully.

Let that sink in a minute. Argue with it. Expose any logical flaws and share them with me if you find any. But don’t bother to argue we can have “just as good” friends without prayer, because it simply t’aint so. Prayer for another requires an intentional, exclusive dedication of time to someone other than ourselves. It requires we do nothing but lift them up and seek their best interest without regard for our own concerns or desires. It requires complete altruism, read: self-sacrifice. And there aren’t many of us on the planet – myself included – who are committed to doing it well.

We all need community and fellowship. We are desperate for friends we can trust. It is hard to know who those people are. But just maybe, a big part of our problem is that it truly does take one to know one. As my ol’ Ma is fond of saying, “If you want to have a friend, you have to be a friend first.” Christ went all the way to the Cross so He could call us His friends. Maybe it’s not such a big thing after all for us to start our own “friending” by praying for someone else before we start expecting others to give themselves to and for us.