Four Friends
Mark and Luke tells us the story of four friends that were trying desperately to get their disabled friend to Jesus, so that Jesus could heal him. The story goes that they could not get in the door of the house where Jesus was teaching, so they made a plan.
They destroyed the roof, ripped it apart, just to be able to let their friend down on his mat through the gaping whole. Imagine that, the violence of it, the disruption, the stares and shouts of the people below, dust everywhere, mud falling on Jesus' head. All to save their friend.
Jesus does a very interesting thing in this story, he heals the man, forgives his sins, saves him, not due to his own faith. Instead Jesus looks up at the four staring in anticipation through the broken roof, sees their faith and forgives the man's sins.
What if we took this story in isolation, just for a minute, and imagine salvation worked in a different way that what we have been taught. What if, your salvation depended on the faith of your four closest friends? Would your sins be forgiven? What if their salvation depended on your faith? Would they be saved?
Of course we know that salvation isn't as simple as that, or isn't just depended on the faith of your friends. Still, this story shook us up, and is shaking us up as a church, as a community follow Christ. Our relationships with one another is perhaps a lot more important to God that what we thought.
This is the perfect image for the church. Friends helping a broken friend get to Jesus. Sometimes you are the one on the roof, and sometimes you are the one on the mat, and often you might need to break the ceiling apart, break the rules to get someone saved, healed, restored.
Who are your four friends?
They destroyed the roof, ripped it apart, just to be able to let their friend down on his mat through the gaping whole. Imagine that, the violence of it, the disruption, the stares and shouts of the people below, dust everywhere, mud falling on Jesus' head. All to save their friend.
Jesus does a very interesting thing in this story, he heals the man, forgives his sins, saves him, not due to his own faith. Instead Jesus looks up at the four staring in anticipation through the broken roof, sees their faith and forgives the man's sins.
What if we took this story in isolation, just for a minute, and imagine salvation worked in a different way that what we have been taught. What if, your salvation depended on the faith of your four closest friends? Would your sins be forgiven? What if their salvation depended on your faith? Would they be saved?
Of course we know that salvation isn't as simple as that, or isn't just depended on the faith of your friends. Still, this story shook us up, and is shaking us up as a church, as a community follow Christ. Our relationships with one another is perhaps a lot more important to God that what we thought.
This is the perfect image for the church. Friends helping a broken friend get to Jesus. Sometimes you are the one on the roof, and sometimes you are the one on the mat, and often you might need to break the ceiling apart, break the rules to get someone saved, healed, restored.
Who are your four friends?
The Map
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The Map is a simple discipleship and mentoring guide we developed to help circles of friends live more intentionally.
Download the pdf below, as well as the Easter 2014 booklet, where we explored the Map in more detail. The Train Naked Bible study is a great tool to use when you get together.
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