Sunday, December 21, 2008

friendship

found this neat quote in an email from tan, one of those perennially forwarded FW: FW: FW emails...... i usually don't forward them myself (i hate chain mail style guilt tripping emails!~ lol), but this snippet caught my attention....
Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.
Just walk beside me and be my friend.
it really speaks to me about what friendship is, and is not. it is so easy to get in front of someone and take the lead, and tell them what they should do... and it's easy to almost idolize friends, too. when in reality it is simply about two people walking side by side down the same path... of life.

even friends where one is christian and one is not... while we may not be walking down the same *eternal* path, we are both walking through this life.... mike even touched on it today in the message - we should not be pointing fingers what they are doing *wrong*, and separating ourselves from people who don't believe as we do... He wants us to walk side by side with them, loving them, being... their friend. not telling them what to do all the time (gee, should i raise my hand here?.... it's just too easy...) or how they don't measure up to Gods standards (gee, i don't!)... just being their friend.

....as we love them, the Love of God is what changes and heals and draws towards Him..... it's not us. as they see how God's power is at work in our lives, and the changes His love makes in us... that is what sparks a hunger, not so much being *told* they need Jesus.... i think sometimes we *over focus* on our role as leaders (priesthood of all believers) in the sense that we forget that leadership is being servant to all, and not so much *direction* or *instruction*.... it's true, we lead... but not by 'leading', but by loving and serving. being.... a friend.

Jesus Himself, in His leading of us, as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, made Himself a servant... "7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."(phillippians 2) ...He became the Friend of sinners. He didn't come to judge them (just the opposite!)... or snub them for screwing up... or to look down on them from His seat of salvation... He came just... to be their Friend. to be *our* Friend. to point us in the direction He was going... toward the Father. even He wasn't the be all and end all (even tho He had - and is - the Answer!) ie: everything He did pointed to the Father, not Himself. we know the Father's love because we know Jesus' love... not of *telling* so much (who He told off the most was the legalistic religious pharisees of the day!) but by living it every day in His own life and walk... and loving us so much He died for us while we were yet sinners... unconverted... unchristian.... walking in the world just like our friends.

if this is a bit disjointed, sorry... i'm just writing as i'm hashing it out in my head and my heart... thinking on paper, you could say...(er, virtual paper, i guess!)

2 comments:

  1. absolutely right, darlin. Yet another great post to wake up to. I really dont understand how people can take that line about us being preists to mean that we are "Leaders" all and one. last time I checked, a shepard wasnt really a leader. What good is it lecturing the flock? Its the actions they took as they lived, slept, ate and breathed with the flock that either had them trust him, or not.
    *hugs*
    thank you too - for your comments on my page. Its amazing how I hit the most contraversial topic of my blogging career by accident *laughs* I just get so very tired of people giving me a hard time over the whole "Christmas" thing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. well i hope it don't turn into a flame war over there on yer blog, i sure wasn't trying to start anything... just share my view. i'm not a debater... which is why i ran away!!!! lol....

    ReplyDelete

Outcast, Adopted.

THIS BLOG IS IN NEED OF AN OVERHAUL. there are posts from years back i would not be able to post in good conscience now. i plan to overhaul the blog, and either delete or add a disclaimer to those posts. but that is gonna take time....

The Radical Summons: "
Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come." Hebrews 13:13.

"The Spirit never loosens where the Word binds; the Spirit never justifies where the Word condemns; the Spirit never approves where the Word disapproves; the Spirit never blesses where the Word curses." —Thomas Brooks

‎"God receives none but those who are forsaken, restores health to none but those who are sick, gives sight to none but the blind, and life to none but the dead. He does not give saintliness to any but sinners, nor wisdom to any but fools. In short: He has mercy on none but the wretched and gives grace to none but those who are in disgrace. Therefore no arrogant saint, or just or wise man can be material for God, neither can he do the work of God, but he remains confined within his own work and makes of himself a fictitious, ostensible, false, and deceitful saint, that is, a hypocrite." --Martin Luther (W.A. 1.183ff)

i will not let You go: "Jacob's sense of his total debility and utter defeat is now the secret of his power with his friendly Vanquisher. God can overthrow all the prowess of the self-reliant, but He cannot resist the earnest entreaty of the helpless." --Albert Barnes

i will not let You go: "Jacob's determination did not flow from his strength, it flowed from his weakness." --Charles Leiter