exterior. Exterior friendships can be
entered into with just about anybody,
for mutual benefit, enjoyment and
recreation. (See True Christian Religion
446) But interior friendships should
only be formed with those who are in
good, and we are told to be wary. (Ibid.
449) Some of us may find ourselves
repelled by this idea. Aren’t those in
disorder the ones who need us the
most?
Didn’t the Lord also teach us, “love
your enemies, bless those who curse you,
and do good to those who hate you . .
. For if you love [only] those who love
you, what reward have you?” (Matthew
5:44,46; Faith 21) Yes, the Lord did
teach us that, and we should love our enemies and seek to help them in any
way that we can. But the caveat is that we should not blindly get sucked into
an interior friendship with them. To enter into a deep and interior friendship
with a person in open disorder, without regard for the evils they are involved
in, produces a serious risk.
If we don’t use the truths we learned to discern between what’s good and
evil, then we slowly become numb to those evils to the point where they no
longer are repulsive to us. In this state we gradually allow the line between
right and wrong to fade and start to mix good and truth with evil and falsity.
In True Christian Religion these types of interior friendship formed without
discrimination are quite dangerous to the “good” person. For in the next life
they have a very tough time breaking this interior bond with the “evil” and are
compared to “a sheep tied to a wolf, or a goose to a fox, or a dove to a hawk.”
Or even “like kid goats with leopards . . . kissing each other and swearing to
maintain their former friendship.” (See True Christian Religion 448)
So we are instructed only to love the good in our friends, and be careful that
we don’t get tricked into loving, condoning and supporting the evil. Obviously
we can’t determine someone’s interior state but we must use prudence and
make the best judgment we can.
Now let’s turn our attention back to the beautiful story of David and
Jonathan’s friendship for illustration. Jonathan was the son of King Saul, and
David was the anointed king-to-be by the Lord. This meant that if David
became king, Jonathan would never succeed his father Saul on the throne.
And yet Jonathan saw the goodness in David and recognized the evil in Saul –
The first step in forming
any genuine friendship
is to study the Word and
distinguish between
what is acceptable
conduct and what is
not. How many people
today would consider
that a prerequisite for
any genuine friendship?
435