S65P2 – The godly friend: who is worthy
John 15:15
No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
We were only kids. Our parents taught us how to treat people correctly, but those lessons were forgotten quickly once social pressures set in. I learned early that friendship could be a tool to help elevate myself. There were some kids who did not want to be my friend. They apparently had a standard that I did not meet. Because others rejected me like this, I decided that I would do the same. I found myself being drawn to those who did not think I was good enough for them only in an attempt to break through that barrier and prove myself as worthy. At the same time, I rejected others who thought that my friendship was something of value to attain. Eventually, I would realize that not one of us was too good for any other.
If there is one thing that truly puts into context the magnitude of Christ calling us friends it is understanding our servitude to him. We were once slaves to sin but now have become slaves to righteousness. That transition means that we are servants to a new master, who is God. The earthly master-servant relationship works a certain way, and it certainly is not a friendship. While the master may know everything about the servant, the servant will be aware only of what the master discloses. This is a hierarchy of knowledge. The master may have secrets, but the servant may not. What Jesus is saying is that we have been elevated in status by being transformed from mere servants to friends. This should give us insight concerning how we measure who is worthy of being our friends.
If I am good enough for God himself to call me a friend, there is no person whose status is so high that he or she cannot call me a friend. By the same token, if my fellow man is worthy of gaining friendship with our almighty Creator, he is certainly worthy of being friends with me because I am not so great that any standard of mine is higher than that of God’s. God is illustrating by his relationship with us that we must be humble enough to open ourselves to friendship with all brothers and sisters who meet his standard, not ours. If they are worthy of him, they are worthy of us. Father, give us the humility required not to see ourselves as greater than others, that we would accept all of your friends as our friends.