What a Friend We Have
Alexis Kelley // UGA Student & College and Communications Intern
One of the things I’ve been learning most this past year is friendship, specifically friendship that is united because of Christ. One of my biggest prayers coming into college was that the Lord would surround me with people that loved and adored Him. I prayed that they would lead me closer to Christ and that they would encourage me to share Him with others around me. Now, as a third year at UGA, about to finish my fifth semester here, I can say with a filled and grateful heart that He has answered those prayers more abundantly than I could have ever imagined.
Friendship is one of those things that teaches you about itself as you experience it. As you get to know more people and meet people with different backgrounds and opinions, you start to learn what it looks like to get along with and love unexpected people. In Christian community especially, the one thing that unites you is Christ, and so the people you are closest to might be completely different from you. But as you spend time with each other and do life together, it becomes more and more evident how the Lord teaches us about Himself through each other. Through friendship on this earth, He shows us how He is the perfect friend, who loves and cares for us more deeply than we could ever comprehend.
A passage I read recently that encompasses what I’m trying to say is Colossians 4. It’s a list of greetings at the end of his letter. Paul does this in many of his letters, and I’ve never really known what to take from these passages before. But the other day, it began to make so much sense to me. It starts by saying,
“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.”
These verses are very practical. They give us step by step instructions on what to do. Pray with watchful thanksgiving. Paul is urging the Colossians to be consistent in their prayers, to never give up laying their burdens before the God of the universe. And I love that he tells them to be watchful in it with thanksgiving. We have this great hope in Christ. Even though we know how the story will end, it hasn’t happened yet. And so we are watchful! We wait with great anticipation and thanksgiving. We thank God because He is at work and He hears our prayers. Paul even goes on to give them specific things to pray for himself so that they can have a first step in obedience to this call to prayer. Everything that we do should start with prayer - including friendship and community. This opening makes the next few verses so much deeper and more fulfilling because we know that friendship is from Christ Himself in answer to our prayers.
“Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person”
These next verses talk about how we should treat those that are not yet believers. Remember, Colossians is a letter to the Church. These people are presumably already believers and gather together to be encouraged in their faith. But still, Paul tells them that they are to be gracious to others. He says to walk in wisdom towards them. This is a call to pay attention to how we act towards those that are not yet following God. We should be taking every opportunity to show them the love of God and the grace that He gives to us. When we are intentional and gracious to them, it points to the goodness of God. He left us here on earth for this very purpose.
“Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.”
Paul knows that the reason we have fellow believers and friendship is to encourage one another. He knows that the Colossian church loves him and has been praying for him. He sends friends to update them on the work of the gospel as an encouragement! The Colossian church is uplifted because these stories are the answers to their prayers. Their partnership with Paul in the gospel is special and fulfilling because it gives them a tangible way to see the Lord working in their lives and in the lives of people, like Paul, who partner in this mission with them.
“Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him), and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.”
The language of these verses is so sweet. Paul shares how these men have comforted him. It says they are the only men who are circumcised that are partnering with Paul in his efforts to share the gospel with the Gentiles. If you know anything about the life of Paul, you know that he was called to carry the gospel to the Gentiles. Through Christ, he fought against cultural norms to show how the gospel is for all people of every tribe and tongue. It was hard and frustrating work. But God gave Paul these men that were in similar places of life to comfort him. He was not the lone Jew who believed this message. There were others that not only believed it, but were willing to join the fight with him. How comforting is that!
“Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.”
This ties so well to the beginning of this chapter. Epaphras is an example of what it looks like to “continue steadfastly in prayer”. Paul says that he struggles for the Colossians in his prayers. The Christian walk, though the most joyful way to walk this earth, is hard. It is described as a battle in scripture. And one of the ways we fight for each other is through prayer. Epaphras was away from the people he originally fellowshipped with. But they never left his prayers. He continues to pray for their maturity - not that they would be released from their troubles, but that they would be mature and assured in the will of God. He wanted them to know who they were, Who’s they were, and why they were serving. It is hard work to lift up one another, but it is so worth it. The more we fight for each other in prayer, the more we see God move and lead us to His will and maturity.
“Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. And say to Archippus, ‘See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.’”
The closing greetings are to several people in the church that Paul wanted to address. He gives specific instruction and encouragement to them. He tells Archippus to carry on with the mission, and the Colossian church as a whole to partner and encourage the other churches around them by spreading his words.
This last chapter of Colossians gives such great insight on Biblical friendship. It is so cool to be given a glimpse into what the early church community looked like. We get to know their specific names and the specific ways they encouraged one another. So as you continue to live in Christian community, thank God for the opportunities He’s given us to see Himself in each other. Pray steadfastly. Bring outsiders in. Share how the Lord has been working in and through your life. Comfort one another as you go through similar things. Fight for each other in prayer. And encourage one another daily to carry on to maturity.
Alexis is an English and marketing major at UGA. She is a Watty college and communications intern and is involved in the Woodall tribe! She also spent the summer in Boston through Watty this past summer. She is passionate about building relationships and getting to know people’s stories and loves serving the church!
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Will Puckett // UGA Student & College Ministry Intern