Jesus and His Friend

This week’s Little Labyrinth began with and 8th century icon of Christ with Abbot Mena, which has its own interesting history. For me, though, it’s very personal.

I came across this icon fifteen years ago at an Upper Room event for young pastors (at least, we were all young pastors back then). The keynote speaker, Trevor Hudson, admonished us for over professionalizing our calling, to the detriment of our congregations and ourselves. He warned us not to let all of our training and education fool us into thinking we could work outside of Jesus’ methods for making disciples.

“No one ever becomes a disciple except in the context of spiritual friendship,” he told us, and passed out the icon as a reminder that this has been the wisdom of Christians for centuries.

That one insight transformed my understanding of ministry. My task was not to be the next great pastoral entrepreneur, but to befriend the people in front of me, regardless of who those people are or what they have to offer. Jesus didn’t call me to succeed, according to the metrics instilled in me, but to be a friend.

Learning to view ministry in the context of spiritual friendship demystified my pastoral calling. Not only that, it made my work so much more fun. Hang out with people? Have conversations that matter? Cook dinner? Serve alongside one another? Play music? That and so much more?

Sign. Me. Up.

Following Jesus is never easy, and it can require more of you than you think you can give. But I don’t know of any other endeavor that engenders such a strong sense of community—of not being alone—than trying to live as disciples together. Being friends means you don’t have to fix anyone, don’t have to get them to measure up. You just have to love them, and trust that love will transform you both.

You don’t have to be a clergy person to become a disciple who makes disicples. It’s enough to care. It’s enough to be a friend.

More than enough.

It’s all there is.

—Pastor Eric