“For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.” – 1 Corinthians 12:14-20
This entry will be posted on my best friend Luke’s birthday, so I thought that was a good enough excuse to write about him, his friendship and how it has pointed me to Christ.
I met Luke in the summer of 2012 in an EMW camp in Bala. I was just a budding Christian then. We both were. Our backgrounds in entering the faith were different and we didn’t share many interests if any at all. Though our senses of humour were similar then. We also shared the same dorm thus we also participated in the same bible study group. I grew fond of most people in those camps. So much so that in our early teen years we would often meet throughout the year outside of the summer. As someone who didn’t have a very active social life, this was very important in the ongoing remedy for my loneliness. This remedy would be more potent if Luke was present.
However, as the years went on, our differences increased. Our humour is not as harmonious as it used to be; He went to university while I worked; We went on different camps; Our opinions on whether or not Peter Kay is funny had also revealed themselves to be dissimilar. It follows that I grew some anxiety every now and then. Had we become too different to be friends?
But God blessed me with clarity. In the past three to four years I have seen very dark and troubling times. If it were not for Luke and others like him sticking by me and showing me the light, I would not be where I am today. If he were any different as to how he is, I’m not sure how useful he would’ve been in directing me back to Jesus. His no nonsense attitude, reluctance to be overly sympathetic, and his unspoken policy of saying very little were the complete opposites of the qualities I wanted him to have. But they were what I needed. It was the very differences in his personality that he used to show his love and friendship. That coupled with our shared love-of-Jesus proved to me the power of what Paul was writing in 1 Corinthians 12. Notice how I hyphenated the words ‘love-of-Jesus’. I mean it not to be a love towards Jesus that we share as if we both shared a love towards the same football club (we don’t btw that’s another difference). This was a love from Jesus – grace. I find this distinction important. Because like I said we are very different people and this is not a love fueled by our personal preferences but a love that transcends preference. It is what binds all the parts of the body of Christ together. This love that transcends preference is the exact same love that brought Christ to the cross. The exact same love that brought sinners like us to the cross and into reconciliation. It is the love-of-Jesus – grace.
In Joy Unspeakable, Dr Martyn-Lloyd Jones wrote that one of the signs of true believers is the ability to love other Christians despite qualities in them that would otherwise turn us away. The context of this is not to disqualify Christians that don’t do this but to reassure Christians of their salvation. i.e. if you love someone who you don’t even like very much, that’s a sign that the Holy Spirit is at work. I admit that I still have some hesitance when loving others or reconciling with brothers and sisters in Christ purely because we differ in beliefs. I pray grace melts my heart. If you have a similar issue then I pray it melts yours too.
What I aim to achieve by writing this is to display that I have seen Christ-like qualities in my best friend Luke, I am proud to call him my brother in Christ, and though I can sometimes feel that he doesn’t like me very much, I have experienced love in our friendship that transcends preference.
Yes I Know The Way 