Being a Friend of God

               

                There is only one individual in all of Scripture who was ever specifically called a friend of God, and that was Abraham. Amazingly, Abraham was called God’s friend not just once, but on three occasions: once by Jehoshaphat (2 Chron 20.7), once by James (Jas 2.23), and once by God himself, who referred to Abraham as “My friend” (Isa 41.8). As I thought about this, my first reaction was, “Why only Abraham?” That is, why is the word “friend” used so sparingly to describe the relationship between men and God? So I decided to peruse the word “friend” as it is used in Scripture, taking note of some of the qualities of friendship. As I began to do this, my question changed. I went from wondering “Why only Abraham?” to “Why anyone at all?” That is, after looking at what it means to be a friend, I began to wonder how anyone could be described as a “friend of God.”
 

                One key mark of friendship is loyalty. Hushai, for example, was called David’s friend, for he proved to be loyal to David when Absalom rebelled (2 Sam 15.32-37; 16.16-17; 17.15-16). Jonathan is another of David’s friends that proved loyal (1 Sam 18). While Abraham was not flawless, from the time God called him in Genesis 12, until his death 100 years later, he remained loyal to God. This kind of loyalty is rare, however. Few “friends” will remain loyal at all times, and so most of us experience few true friendships. I wonder if God experiences even fewer.

                Another key characteristic of friendship is intimacy, or familiarity. It was said of Moses, for example, that “the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend” (Ex 33.11). Here we see a familiarity that is likewise rare, so rare in fact that no other prophet after Moses ever experienced it (cf. Num 12.8; Det 34.10). But even before Moses, Abraham seemed to have just such a familiar relationship with God (Gen 18.17: "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am bout to do?"); so much so that he could even barter with the Lord (Gen 18.22-39). Such friendship involves the close fellowship of kindred spirits, a like-mindedness and familiarity of close companions (cf. Ps 55.13: “my equal, my companion, my familiar friend; we who had sweet fellowship together”). Perhaps that is another reason the word “friend” is used so rarely in Scripture to describe the relationship between man and God. How many people are truly “kindred spirits” with God?
 

Loyalty, intimacy, familiarity, kindred spirits—these are hard enough to find among equals. How can we ever hope to have such a friendship with  a holy God? And yet, the very point of James’ reference to Abraham’s friendship with God seems to be that we too can be friends of God if we live by the kind of faith Abraham had (Jas 2.23). And it’s true, for Jesus himself said, “You are My friends if you do what I command you.  No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you” (Jn 15.14-15). Here we see the two main characteristics of friendship we discussed above: loyalty (“do what I command you”), and intimacy or familiarity (“knows what the master is doing,” and “all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you”). Imagine, only Abraham was called the “friend of God”—until Jesus came. And now we too can be a friend of God, by being a friend of Jesus.

               

© 2007 Randy Hohf