The way of the world is to build friendships with people who will up our careers and reputation. Scarcely will we go out of our way to befriend those who will not add anything to our image, but instead detract from it. But this  is not the way of Jesus.

Jesus befriended unscrupulous characters such as Zaccheus, Mary Magdalene, Mary from whom he cast out seven demons...and he sincerely loved them. Seeking out and honoring their company with his presence rather than seeking out the company of the élite. This infuriated the élite no end, because if Jesus is who he claimed he was -the Son of God- and the great prophet they could all see he was, then the decent thing would be for him to honor the company of society's créme de la créme...

Friendship cannot exist in the midst of 'inequality.' This is why the Pharisees were scandalized by Jesus' association and bonding with society's outcasts.

So many factors create 'inequality' among us...differences in economics, academics, social status, etc., are wedges that introduce inequality between people and groups. So how do we fulfill the necessary conditions of equality for friendship to occur? By connecting at our lowest common denominator, which is our humanity, just like Jesus did. Jesus, God, met and befriended us - at our humanity.

At the level of our humanity, we are all equal and when we connect with people at the level of our humanity which we all share in common, rather than at elements which are unequally distributed among humans and nature, it becomes easy to love and befriend others like Christ loved and befriended us.

He affirmed our humanity with his friendship.
He gave us access to his privileges.
He exchanged his privilege for our disadvantage.
He clothe us with his glory.

When we connect at the level of our humanity, nothing, whether economics, academics, social, gender, etc., can  stand in the way of love and friendship.

#ScandalousFriendship #JesusFriendship #ChristianFriendship #LoveLikeChrist #WhatIsLove

Prayer: Jesus, friend of sinners, help us to recognize we are the sinners whom you've befriended at great cost to your reputation. Help us, therefore, to go out and befriend other sinners like you befriended us. In your name, we pray.

 








Prayer: Jesus, friend of sinners, help us to recognize we are the sinners whom you've befriended. Help us, therefore, to go out and befriend other sinners like you befriended us. In your name, we pray.

 Jesus often declined supposedly 'good things' and 'good offers' because they would distract and detract from his calling and purpose. This is what happened after the people tried to make Jesus their king after he fed miraculously fed five thousand of them.

Oftentimes, in appreciation of our skills and talents, people size us up and think they know and understand what we need - an offer that to all intents and opinions, would raise us a notch higher.

While there's nothing wrong with this, Jesus' life teaches that not all promotions are worth it. We can only properly determine the worthiness of the offer by considering it alongside of our known call and initial responsibility...

For example, a lesser paying job might make a parent more available to raise their children, but not enough to consider their family well off. On the other hand, a higher paying job might raise your status and purchasing power, but reduce one's ability and availability for one's family.

At such points, we have to consider "What is my call at this point in time?" What has God given to you as your personal assignment and of which He will require an account? In the overall scheme of things, what will be the 'cost' of accepting that promotion...?

Jesus knew that while he could easily fill the position of earthly 'king,' it would prevent him from dying for the people, which was his call. And so he turned down those very good offers to stick to being a commoner, a friend of sinners, so that people could be brought closer to God.

As he is, so we are in this world. We will continue to be offered many seemingly good things. But just as not all that glitters is gold, so not every good offer is 'good.'

We will only find the strength to rightly choose when our hearts are properly tuned to God's Kingdom priorities. Then, like Jesus, we will find the power to resist pursuing wealth at the cost of our God-ordained assignments and responsibilities.

Prayer: In this Lenten season and beyond, LORD, please teach us to discern and pursue the true riches of your grace at every moment in time, in Jesus name!