Pastor Andy: Jesus' friendship is fixed and stable for you

Many times in the Gospels, the Pharisees and many others saw Jesus with sinners and tax collectors (read Mark 2 for a good example). Jesus was given the term “friend of sinners,” which was actually supposed to be a negative title. But what does it mean that Christ is a friend to sinners? It means at least Jesus is pleased spending time with them. On top of that, Jesus being a friend of sinners also means they feel welcomed and comfortable around him.

These two groups of people, sinners and tax collectors, whom Jesus befriends, are the very people who can’t stay. They find peace around him; they are at ease. They know instinctively there is something different about him.

Who are your closest friends? I’m sure a few names come to mind. Who is someone in your life you can share everything with? All of your fears, joys, insecurities? I’m sure you have someone you can share your life with, but if we’re being honest, there are things we still keep away from even our closest friends. We’re worried if we talk to them every day all day about our problems, they’ll be annoyed. If they found out that we really had that one dark thought, they’d reject us and have a terrible view of who we are. We withhold what’s really stirring in our hearts because we crave relationships that think we’re better than we are.

What are the limits of your friendships? We all have limitations. If we offend someone enough, hurt them enough or ignore them long enough, that friendship will fade away. The depths of our friendships with people can only go so deep.

Why is that important to recognize? Because there is a promise in the Bible, that we see especially in the Gospel, that should open our eyes to a new kind of friendship. As Dane Ortlund shares, “In Jesus Christ, we are given a friend who will always enjoy rather than refuse our presence.”

The friendship of Jesus is unlike any human friendship. Jesus knows you. He knows everything that swirls around in your head, every impulsive desire, every hidden thing you do in the dark. He knows it all! And yet he still wants to be your friend. His friendship is limitless; has no bottom to it.

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He doesn’t say, “I’ll be your friend if you’re clean,” or, “I’ll be your friend if you are faithful.”He’ll never get annoyed with your voice. He’ll never grow tired of being around you because He has other things to do. He looks forward to being with you always. The friendship of Jesus is fixed and stable for you.

Andy Mullikin is pastor of 2|42 Community Church’s Monroe Campus. He can be reached at andy.mullikin@242community.com.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Pastor Andy: Jesus' friendship is fixed and stable for you