Servant or friend?

I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends (John 15:15).

Servant or friend?  Given the choice, I prefer being named a friend. Servants merely do as they’re told.  As the Lord says, a servant does not know his master’s business.  You just follow orders, not privy to the purpose or value of your actions.  It’s hard to get excited about doing something when you don’t understand why it needs to be done.  And being treated as a servant is humbling as well; you just feel like an interchangeable part in a large assembly of moving pieces.

Thankfully, our Lord chooses to treat us differently. He does not want us to follow Him blindly like robots, doing what He commands with no understanding of why.  He does not want us dragging our heels because we don’t get why hard things sometimes need to be done.  And He certainly doesn't want us feeling as if we have no personal value to Him as individuals! 

God created each of us to have a uniquely personal relationship with Him.  Although He doesn’t need us, God wants us to walk at His side as friends.  Of course, friendship requires communication and lots of it.  The Lord of all things already knows everything about us since He is our maker; sadly our spiritual blindness prevents us from knowing God with any kind of familiarity.  This motivated Jesus to come live here on earth; He shared the heart and mind of God with us through His words, words that have been preserved for all people in the Bible.  Through Christ we are made privy to what God is doing; we are invited to work with Him not as ignorant servants but as valued friends. 

Knowing the Almighty King changes our perspective on being His people.  Christ has revealed how much God hates sin and the lengths He was willing to go to in order to free us from its curse—giving His own Son to the shame and agony of the cross.  Such knowledge deflates our unwarranted high opinion of ourselves and triggers a response of grateful service.  Knowing what Christ suffered to make us His friends, we are prepared to endure some hardship of our own in order to share His love with others.  Knowing how much we are valued helps us to value each other even when we’re not particularly lovable. Through the words of Christ we are elevated from mere servants to beloved friends, friends who are privileged to know who God is and what he is about.