‘A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother’, Prov. 18. 24.
Social media is a huge influence on us today. Many have an online persona that may actually reflect very little of the reality in their lives. Everyone has a need to be accepted, and, for some, popularity is very important. Social media often measures this by the number of likes, or the amount of ‘friends’ we have online. The verse in Proverbs would remind us that true friends are not superficial acquaintances that we meet in passing, or that we might send a friend request to. True friends are people who earn our trust through their actions, and this is a two-way street. The verse tells us that a true friend is invaluable and can be closer even than family. These friends will be lifelong, will see past our faults and should be cherished.
Christian friendship is so important to the life we lead for our Lord. I look back to my teenage years and I am thankful for Christian friends who encouraged me and offered a sense of community.
Many will have school friends that will be loyal, loving, and supportive, yet, ultimately, they will have very different values, dreams, and ambitions. We value these friendships and would prayerfully seek to tell them about our Saviour, but increasingly they will encourage us to participate in activities, frequent places, and talk about things that would be detrimental to our spiritual progress.
As I look back at my younger days, sadly many of my Christian friends are no longer walking with God. It is very possible that they grew to love what this world has to offer, or maybe followed popularity, feeling the need to fit in. We are reminded in Romans chapter 12 verse 2 not to ‘be conformed to this world’. God warns of this for a reason.
In John chapter 14 verse 30, the devil is described as the prince or ruler of this world. This world is set up to take us away from God. It will rob us of our time, change our outlook, and lead us to have goals and ambitions that are not spiritual.
In 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 10, we read of Demas. Paul, in Philemon verse 24 described him as his fellow labourer, but here we read that he deserted Paul because he found the things the world had to offer so appealing. That is extremely sad; Demas turned to the pleasures of this world for whatever time he had left in his life, but missed out on much. He missed out on knowing the joy of living for God and building into heavenly, eternal blessings.
Our friends undoubtedly influence us and encourage us to make choices that will benefit us, or otherwise. A true friend will lovingly point out our faults. If we don’t have our faults revealed to us, we will carry on in them and this could end in disaster. Proverbs chapter 27 verse 5 tells us that ‘Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed’. Verse 6 goes on to tell us that, ‘Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful’. These verses emphasize the value of true Christian friends, who will lovingly help us with our faults, and we should help them too.
We must also, of course, be positive. In a slightly different context, Hebrews chapter 10 verse 24 encourages us to, ‘consider one another in order to stir up love and good works’. It is a good test of how good a friend really is, if through their conversation and encouragement, we are brought closer to God, His work, and to display Christian love.
In the UK at least, there are far fewer Christians than in previous generations and certainly fewer in assembly fellowship. We must be careful not to isolate ourselves in our home assemblies, where there might be only a few younger believers. Our local assembly is where we are called to serve and help one another, and we should be regularly gathering and becoming more involved. However, we should make every effort to attend meetings at other assemblies, Bible study weeks and weekends. Here we will not only learn more from the word of God, but we will establish good friendships that can be vital to our spiritual wellbeing and help us to live meaningful lives serving the Lord, whom we love because He first loved us.
