Missional FriendshipSample

Day 3 - The Friendship of Jesus

The three-year journey of relationship that Jesus had with his closest disciples is a lesson in friendship. This group of people went from not knowing Jesus much, if at all. Some of them knew each other, but not everyone knew all of the group. They were this crazy mix of personalities. Anytime you have a group where one of them has the qualifier to their name of “…the Zealot”, you know it is going to be quite a ride. How about “Sons of Thunder”? Or the heart-driven disciple, John? You have a thief and a betrayer in the group, as well as not a few introverts, it seems.

To all of them, Jesus tells them they are his friends because they do what he commands them to do.

Friends. Think about that. It’s an amazing statement.

To everyone else, Jesus was Teacher, Rabbi. Even to his disciples, he was the Son of God, the Lord. He was a healer, a spiritual powerhouse of deliverance. All of these things created an elevated status for Jesus. And yet, he lowered himself to be their friend.

When we lower ourselves to be the friend of another, we elevate them in the process. This is what Jesus did. For sure, the Son of God was the greater person in any relationship. Yet he comes face to face with his disciples to become their friend.

In John 15:15, Jesus reveals an essential aspect of the nature of true friendship - honest, transparent, self-revelation of the most important things in our life. In a word, the nature of true friendship is vulnerability.

True friendship, like Jesus modeled, is going to cost you. But true friendship, like Jesus chose to engage in, is the way the mission of God was most powerfully revealed and lived out in Jesus’ life, and the life of his closest disciples.

It was special. And it was a choice. A choice you can make. And it is going to cost you if you make it.

Questions to Consider:

• What does friendship look like when you consider the friendship of Jesus?
• How can you be in friendships that encourage each other in the mission God has called each of you to live?

Action to Take:

• Make a choice this week in how you live that shows the priority of missional friendships.

Prayer To Make:

Ask Jesus to reveal to you more clearly and deeply his friendship. Pray for a leader that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind to know and experience the love of Jesus for them.