Friend or Acquaintance?
Dan Kunz
I once knew a guy named Dave. He went to the same school as I did. We had some mutual friends. We enjoyed some of the same hobbies. We’d hang out occasionally with other friends, but not very often. He always seemed like a nice guy. He was friendly, had a winning smile, and seemed reliable. When our paths crossed, we’d nod and wave, but that was about it. I just never bothered to get to know him better. He was an acquaintance, but nothing more.
I graduated, then he graduated. We lived in different parts of the country. I went about my life, and he went about his. Once in a great while, we’d see each other at the wedding of a mutual friend, but that wasn’t very often. He loved to fish and so every couple of years I’d run into him on the river near where I lived. He was still an acquaintance, but our paths crossed even less frequently.
One day, several years later, I learned that Dave had moved to a small town not far from where I lived. For a while we’d run into each other at sporting events and other occasions related to work. Then everything changed. Dave invited me to go fishing with him at one of his favorite fishing holes, one that was not on my radar. We had a great time. We laughed, told stories, and just enjoyed each other’s company. I don’t recall if we caught any fish, but, as it turns out, that was irrelevant. A friendship was born. With each passing month, we hung out more frequently. We found we had a lot more in common than just fishing. Dave loved the Lord. He had a great sense of humor. He loved people. He was extremely kind and caring. Dave had a way of keeping you humble, but always in just the right way, never condescending or mean-spirited. As time went on, our friendship grew as tight as friends can be. We spent time in the outdoors, even going on a primitive campout in the Boundary Waters with a couple of other friends. He was a bachelor and I was married, so my wife and I would have him over to our house for meals. We talked on the phone a lot. He became my “sounding board”. I could bounce ideas off him and always get good advice. I don’t think there was anything Dave wouldn’t do for me, or I for him!
Then Dave got cancer several years ago and went to live with his Lord. I miss him, but know I’ll see him again.
So, what’s your relationship with Jesus? Are you like Dave and me early on – acquaintances, seeing each other occasionally and waving from across the room, or are you like Dave and me later, close friends who talk all the time and share the important things of faith and life? Do you share the wonder of the hymn writer, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!”
We know, as Martin Luther put it in the Explanation of the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel,…” That does not mean; however, we can’t do things to propagate our relationship with him. How do you build a relationship with someone? Call Jesus up. Talk to him. Go over to his house. Invite him to your house. Ask his opinion about things. Share your hopes, your fears, your dreams. Cry together. Laugh together. Ask him for help. Maybe even go “fishing” with him! (He’s pretty good at that you know.) We know he wants to be our friend. John 15:15 “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.”