The Power of True Friendship

I am reading a wonderful book at present about the relationship between Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Theirs was clearly an epic friendship at a time in history when our world needed leadership and hope that our society would not be swallowed in darkness. Out of this friendship emerged the necessary combatant to evil that existed and overwhelmed the world in their day. It is hard to imagine how different our world would be today if these two had not been present both in leadership for the world, but also in friendship for one another.

Churchill once told Roosevelt, “Our friendship is the rock on which I build for the future of the world, so long as I am one of the builders.”

C.S. Lewis noted once in an essay on friendship that Emerson observed, “Do You Love Me?” actually means “Do You See the Same Truth?” or at least as Lewis commented, “Do you care about the Same Truth?”

Do you have a friend like this? Do you have someone who as Lewis puts it, cares about the same truth as you? I think in recent years we have lost some of our vision for friendship because we have underestimated how important it is for friends to care deeply about the same things. We have taken friendship and turned into something that is safe and docile, a place where you are safe to hold whatever view you desire and still to be completely embraced and accepted including your beliefs and the implications of these beliefs. Now I am in no way saying we should not love people where they are and embrace our friends, family, and colleagues as they wrestle through matters of truth, beauty, and influence. But how much more does our friendship with someone weigh when we care deeply about the same truth. When we are committed to the same mission. Of course, this in no way ensures complete and total agreement; in fact this kind of friendship promises quite the opposite. When we care about the same truth, with equal vigor, we most certainly will differ on the best means to live out that truth, and perhaps secure the life that truth promises. This is the beauty of a friendship that lives within the boundaries of a commitment to a shared truth. It means we are safe to wrestle deep and hard with one another over how that truth gets played out into everyday life.

Think for one moment . . . what would your life look like if you let someone like this into your life on a daily basis? Perhaps for you, the issue is not friendship; it is that you need to ask yourself what truth you care about enough to have a friendship like this one. For me, the truth is the gospel. This is why we must be friends in the church. We must fight hard to have a few brothers or sisters in our lives who press us and make us better, stronger, and more honest. This is the beauty of the church and it is why it is so tragic when the church does not get along and does not engage in friendship. If the force of history can cause men like Roosevelt and Churchill to engage in friendship, then the force of the gospel can require us and make it possible for us to be friends with one another in the church. Friends who share in the calling to make a culture that reflects the image of God and the gospel of Jesus.

This article’s origin: http://www.qideas.org/blog/epic-friendships.aspx