No longer servants, but friends
Jesus in the upper room
On the last night, in the same conversation where he called himself the vine, Jesus quietly redefined what his followers were to him. They had thought of themselves as his disciples, his servants, his students — and they were. But he reached for a higher word.
No longer do I call you servants, he said, for a servant doesn't know what his master is doing. A servant gets orders; a friend gets let in. And then the astonishing claim: I have called you friends, for everything I heard from my Father I have made known to you. He had hidden nothing from them. He had brought them inside the family secrets.
This is the dignity Jesus confers on ordinary people who follow him. The Lord of glory does not keep us at the polite distance of staff. He calls us friends — and a friend is someone you want near, someone you confide in, someone you simply enjoy.
“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn't know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.”
— Jesus, in the upper room — John 15:15 (WEB)
Let Jesus move you from servant-distance to friendship — someone he confides in, wants near, and genuinely enjoys.
“Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness; and he was called the friend of God.”
We prefer being God's servants because it keeps the relationship safely useful, and we are surer he can use us than that he enjoys us. The interior work is to accept the higher, more vulnerable word Jesus uses — friend — and to let yourself be wanted by God, not merely employed by him, until being his delight is as believable as being his instrument.
This week, relate to God for a few minutes a day as a friend, not a boss — no agenda, no list, just being with him and listening. Notice the resistance to being wanted rather than useful, and stay anyway.
We are far more comfortable being useful to God than being wanted by him, because servant-distance keeps the relationship manageable and the heart guarded. But Jesus will not leave you on his staff; he calls you friend, into the circle where the Father's heart is shared — and a friend is not driven by the fear of underperforming.
We are comfortable being God's servants; it keeps the relationship manageable and the distance respectful. Friendship is harder to receive, because a friend is wanted, not just useful — and many of us are far more sure that God can use us than that he enjoys us. We would rather be valuable to God than be his delight.
But Jesus will not leave us at servant distance. He moves us up to friendship, into the circle where the Father's heart is shared and we are simply, genuinely liked. Abraham was called the friend of God; so are you, if you are Christ's. You are not merely on his staff. You are in his confidence.
- Am I more sure God can use me than that he enjoys me?
- Do I keep God at the manageable distance of a servant?
- What would change if I believed Jesus calls me friend?
Lord, you call me not servant but friend. Teach me to be wanted by you, not only useful to you, and to enjoy your friendship. Amen.