3 Dec
Friends After All
Recently, I’ve made a new friend of sorts. I love it when that happens! Except in this case, I’ve known this friend for several years, but it’s only recently we started talking. I remember the first time I met her. It was the first day of Junior English class; she had just moved in from out of state.
I quickly found out that her experiences, thoughts, and opinions were vastly different from my own, and for this reason I initially had just written her off. She later revealed that, in her mind, she did the same to me. But in recent months, we started conversing again; but this time it was, interestingly enough, our differences that actually brought us together. Our back and forth began during the election season as we engaged in spirited discussion about the state of the race, our choice in candidates, etc. But through that debate, we both surprised ourselves to discover that there was a host of issues we did agree on, and that even when we did disagree—that wasn’t any grounds to not be friends.
This experience revealed two very clear truths to me—the first being my tendency to judge. It’s an ugly habit; but if I am being honest, I would have to admit that I do it often. I think we all do at times. But when I do that, I risk missing out on so much, such as in this instance, a great friendship. In Matthew 7:1 Jesus offers strong words on judging others, saying, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” But it was 8:15 that was the most convicting to me, when Jesus said, “You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one.” Jesus could have judged had He wanted to. If the measure that judged others by was used against Him, He would be fine—He was without sin. He had every reason to judge, for He was perfect, but He didn’t, and if He didn’t, then how dare I?
The other thing I realized was this: I can have strong disagreements with others but still continue the relationship that I have with them while not acknowledging that their views are necessarily true. Some might respond to this saying, “Well duh!” but it’s been a hard lesson for me to learn. My new friend is not a Christian, but she knows that I am. She knows that my views on this are unwavering, absolute, and in sharp contrast to hers, and we are friends anyway. Yet often in these situations, my habit is to pull away from such people. But what do I accomplish in doing that? Nothing, other than reaffirming their negative perceptions of those who would call themselves “Christian.” But in befriending those who offer perceptions of God and faith different from our own, we have the opportunity to plant a seed, and be an influence in their life. And after all, did Jesus ever close Himself off to those who didn’t think like Him? Never. And neither should we.
What do you think? Join the discussion »
Filed in:
About the Author
Jonathan Frank is a freshman at Tennessee Tech University majoring in Political Science and Journalism, but still calls Goodlettsville, Tennessee home. He loves his crazy family of six, blogging, his ipod, Fox News, queso dip and his home church- Long Hollow Baptist, where he helps with the children’s ministry dramas. Upon graduating college, Jonathan wants to pursue a career in broadcast journalism. You can contact him on Facebook or at his blog- jonathansthoughts.wordpress.com.
