As Iron Sharpens Iron

I just came back from a significant lunch.  We did  not discuss budgets, politics, the cure for cancer or anything of the sort.  We simply talked about our families, our struggles, our praises, and the mutual desire for our lives and families to be focused on God.  In the age of power moves and high rolling business luncheons, I feel that this very lunch was far more impactful and carried a more significant impact on my community and Church then anything else.  I left Freebirds full from my burrito, encouraged, and slightly sad.  The sadness comes from the wonderment of whether the rest of you have relationships that push you to a higher level of holiness and devotion to God.

An extremely tough lesson to learn is the significance of outside relationships.  We very seldom see the impact of our Friends and Family in our own personal walk with God.  Have you ever taken stock in the relationships you have at work, school, or even Church and asked yourself whether those relationships are drawing you closer to God or pushing you further from his truth?  Solomon writes in Proverbs 27:17, "As iron sharpens iron so does one man sharpen another."  Are your relationships sharpening you for God's service or making you dull and apathetic to the influences of the world?

Often times I come across Students who suffer from the poor choice of friends or even the poor choice in who to date.  I ask these kids why they chose to hang out with people who don't love God or date people who aren't in love with Jesus?  Typically I get the response, "look who Jesus hung out with, aren't I supposed to be like Christ".  It's a good comeback but it has it's flaws.  Immediately I ask them what was the nature of Jesus friendship with "those" people?  Was he the influencer or the influencee?  We all have levels of relationships.  We have those acquaintances that we see every once in a while and they are nice but not overly impactful.  We then have that intimate ring of relationships that carry a ton of influence as to who we are and what we do.  My question is, what do those relationships look like?

I once visited with a Mother who was concerned about the friends her son was hanging out with.  I simply wondered out loud, "I wonder what the Parents of those boys are saying about their relationship with your son?"  That's a tough question to hear isn't it?  It's a tough question that I have to ask myself.  Is my Bride, My family, My Church, and this Student Ministry better for my presence and influence or worse off?  Am I providing my share of the "iron" to sharpen them?  Ask yourself and your Student that question.

For some families, these questions might possibly spark a long and intense discussion on the nature of their kid's relationships.  For some families, especially if you have teenage boys, the discussion may only last a few minutes with the final response of, "uhhhh I don't know".  If this is what happens when you talk to your kids about this don't be alarmed and don't push, now is the time to pray.  Pray with your kid about their friends.  Pray for them to have friendships with people that love God and will sharpen their "iron".  PRAY FOR THE  PEOPLE THEY WILL MARRY.  Pray that they will marry God loving and Jesus worshipping people who will help them in their walk.  Pray that your own Child will be an influencer for God. The significance of friendships may be lost on the Student, but don't let it be lost on you.  Pray out loud for these things and let your Student hear that prayer.  Believe it or not, the audible prayer will find it's way to significant meaning eventually in their hearts.