The Witness Of Friendship

“How I weep for you, my brother Jonathan! Oh, how much I loved you! And your love for me was deep, deeper than the love of women!” (2 Samuel 1:26, NLT)

“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:12-13, NLT)

Have you noticed that almost every website asks you to prove you’re human? How many times have you seen the prompt, ‘Click the traffic lights,’ ‘Find the bicycles’ or ‘select all the water bottles’? It’s called a CAPTCHA and they exist for one reason: authentication.

Jesus gave His followers the first authentication test—not to gain more access to a website or an app, but to reveal to the world who truly belonged to Him. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples…” Can you notice what Jesus didn’t say? He didn’t say people would recognize us by our sermons, worship, buildings, politics or our careers. Only love would serve as authentication for not only being human but being His.

Think about the journey you’ve taken this week to learn a new rubric for friendships. Sometimes we simply warm a room like a sunbather or arrive exactly when someone needs us like a surfer.

We’ve improved our listening skills to be the type that goes beneath the surface, which I refer to as a snorkeler. Sometimes we share our life with the depth of a scuba diver or carry another person’s burdens like an experienced submariner. Every type of friend and every level matters. But the most important thing is that every level of friendship points to Jesus.

One of my closest friends still hasn’t become a Christian. I’ve witnessed to him with the words of the gospel, but I wonder if my life has preached a better sermon.

After years of friendship, he texted me,

“Wayne, you’re one of the only reasons I think maybe some of that crazy stuff you believe about Jesus could actually be true.”

Friendship can evangelize better than we might think.

Today, take one more step into ordinary day-to-day life. Reply to another group chat. Stand in line at the supermarket. Sit in meetings. Wave at people you know in the gym. And maybe even learn the name of someone you regularly interact with! These moments are no longer ordinary. They are opportunities to embody the friendship of God. The world may never read the Bible, but it will read us.

Perhaps there is someone out there who is praying to make a friend today. Maybe God is inviting you to be the one who will meet them at one of these levels. Let’s love making friends with anyone so we can point people to Jesus.