Calling someone a friend is such a small but significant action. I remember in kindergarten asking people if they wanted to be my friend. Did it change our interactions? Not really, but we now knew what we meant to each other.
This past week, my team spent a few days in Phnom Pen, Cambodia for Christmas. We had the privilege of meeting DJ as God put him right in our path. He is the nicest tuc tuc driver (the taxis of Cambodia) whom I have ever met and right away he called us friend.
We spent Christmas day with DJ as he drove us from place to place. He was excited to have business on Christmas and we were blessed to ask him questions and listen to his story. He told us about his wife who unfortunately doesn’t want to be with him anymore. He told us about his 14 year old son and how proud of him he is. As we were returning to our hotel for the evening, one of my team mates, Lindsay, felt nudged to give him a little Christmas gift of money to help him out.
The next day, my team had decided to go out to dinner at out favorite Mexican restaurant but decided to invite DJ to eat with us. On our way there in DJs tuc tuc, he told us how excited his son was for the new school backpack he bought with the money Lindsay gave them. When we reached the restaurant , we invited another lady, Alison, who was sitting by herself to sit with us as well. We sat around the table and talked about our lives. We asked questions, laughed and shared the best guacamole in Cambodia. By the end of the night, we all had new friends.
I believe Jesus lived like this. He had his squad of 12, but he invited others to the table and called them friends. He did not see the person that drove him around or waited on him as a servant ” because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, [Jesus] has called you friends. ” (John 15:15)
Let us seek to find and call others to the table as we call them friends.
