Friendship (Part One)

The news of the death of a very good friend of mine reached me in November. Leonard and I had met in our freshman year in college and been friends for 63 years. He passed away while speaking at a missions conference in Pennsylvania, which was a fitting place for his departure from this earth to the joys of heaven. He had served the Lord in Brazil for many years and had just returned from the field.

In God’s plan, our paths kept intersecting all through our lives. We studied together in college and seminary. He was the best man in my wedding. Later, I became his pastor in Cleveland. When he felt called to Jewish missions, I was chairman of the sending agency.

I felt a great sense of loss when I heard that he had passed away. And as I reflected on the nature of our friendship, I found some similarities with the friendship of David and Jonathan. What are the marks of a great friendship? We see some in 1 Samuel 18-20…

Kindred Spirits

“Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul” (1 Sam. 18:1).

• Knit. The word is translated “bound up” or “chained” in some translations. Probably the best passage to bring out the nuance of the word is Genesis 44:30-31 where Judah says, “Now therefore, when I come before your servant my father, and the lad [Benjamin] is not with us, since his life is bound up in the lad’s life, it will happen, when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die.” We can understand this. Benjamin was the youngest son of Jacob. Jacob’s wife Rachel gave birth to Joseph and died in childbirth when Benjamin was born. With Joseph presumed dead, Jacob’s strong affection for Joseph was transferred to Benjamin. He became his father’s favorite. Their lives were entwined and knitted together. And so were the lives of Jonathan and David.
• Soul brothers. For this type of friendship to occur, there must be a chemistry that pulls two people together. My friends Bill and Dan found their love of fly-fishing the magnet that drew them together. For Jonathan and David, it was their military feats. These two became kindred spirits right after David’s defeat of Goliath (17:53-58). For Leonard and me, lifelong adventures with God and for Him fueled our friendship.

We’ll add to this list tomorrow.