Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Is Jesus Really My BFF?



by Meridith Borta
Elementary Principal

My sisters and I grew up in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, and as embarrassing as it may be to admit now, we were stereotypical “valley girls”. If you are not familiar with some of the basic valley girl characteristics, we’ll start first by mentioning that we said “like” every other word. We also went through a period of time where we called everyone “dude”.  (Dare I even mention that we were also all blonde cheerleaders?)

I can still remember the day that my sister Laurie answered my mom by saying, “Okay, Dude.” My Mom’s response is one that my sisters and I have recounted on many occasions as we’ve reminisced about our childhoods. My mom looked at my sister and said, “I am not Dude, I am your Mother!”

I mention this story because I fear we are living in a society that has forgotten that we serve the God of the universe and has started calling God “Dude” 


We see t-shirts that read “Jesus is my BFF”. Some have taken the idea so far as to write songs like, “Beer with Jesus” which paints Jesus as your best buddy—just a regular Joe who is “cool” enough to sit down and have a drink with you at the local bar. Another singer excuses the bad behavior in her song by saying that Jesus would understand and they’d get along just fine.

Yes, those are country songs, but even the church is not exempt from this attitude. I’m sure we’ve all sung the popular chorus “I am a Friend of God” on more than one occasion.

So, aside from the absurd “anything goes” mentality of the country songs I mentioned above, is there any truth to this idea that Jesus in our friend? The answer is YES! John 15-12-17 says:
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.”

How truly unbelievable it is that our heavenly Father calls us friends and wants to have a personal relationship with us! Perhaps it is knowledge of this amazing truth that sometimes results in a warped perspective of who God is. Are we calling our Savior “dude” or are we giving him the respect, admiration, and authority in our lives that he deserves?

Jesus calls us to recognize him as so much more than our BFF. The following is an excerpt from a famous sermon by Reverend SM Lockridge. I pray this helps you remember and stand in awe of the indescribable KING that we serve.

Video Link

Link to the Sermon Text
http://thatsmyking.wordpress.com/words/

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