Protect your friends and they will rise up and call you blessed.

Steve Brown:
Protect your friends and they will rise up and call you blessed. Let’s talk about it, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
It’s for freedom that Christ set us free, and Key Life is here to bring you Biblical teaching that encourages you to never give into slavery again. Our teacher on Key Life is Steve Brown. He’s an author, broadcaster, and seminary professor who’s sick of phony religion.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. If you were listening yesterday and one of the difficult things about doing a broadcast like this is that you have to be so precise with the time. Now, when I was a pastor in preaching, that was different. If you had to go over a little bit, you had to go over a little bit, but when you’re doing broadcasting, you can’t go over one second. And I started telling you a story yesterday, under the context of the pathos of friendship. And I’d said that pathos and friendship go together. And if you never want to be hurt, then don’t have friends, real friends. If you never want to shed tears, don’t have friends, real friends. If you never want to experience pain, don’t have friends, real friends. And I was using an example of Dr. George Bingham, who is the president of Key Life. He’s my boss. And when I stopped being the president and gave that position to him, it wasn’t just in name only, he literally became my boss. He runs Key Life. And he’s so good at it that it blows me away. How did we become such friends? I told you yesterday that he was an elder in the church that I once served. And his wife, Ruth was the Christian education director. And they met in that church and I married them. And then they had a son by the name of Matthew, and it was a glorious time until Matthew died. And that was one of the saddest times, in our lives. All of our lives. And very few good things come out of that kind of incident. I remember walking around the hospital when Matthew was in the hospital. And I remember George saying to me, they say, that a lot of people are going to come to know Christ if Matthew dies. And I would rather they go to hell than Matthew die. And we cried together and we talked together. And it’s a long, long story, but in that time, the pathos and the pain of it, we became something more than friends. We became real friends, because we understood that the tears go with the friendship. After Matthew’s death, a while later, we were doing a promotional video for Key Life. And George and Ruth were a part of that video. They went in the studio and talked about Key Life and what it had meant to them, and when they came out, I was outside the studio, and Ruth was crying. And she said something to me that I’ll never forget, she said, Steve, I wouldn’t do this for anybody but you. What was she saying? She was saying in the midst of the pain and the darkness, we became friends. And friends owe friends, and friends stand up for friends. And that brings me to the next point in this particular text, which if you’re counting, is the sixth point. I want you to note not only the philanthropy, the particularity, the proving, the praise, and the pathos of friendship, I want you to note the protection of friendship, Philippians 2:29.

Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him.

Now, I want you to see what has happened here. When I first read this text, I was surprised at the way Paul is telling the people in Philippi to receive Epaphroditus. He tells the people.

To receive him, and he holds him in high esteem.

And I thought, well, why did he say that? Of course, that is what he would say. That is what a friend says about a friend. And then it dawned on me. Epaphroditus had been commissioned by the church at Philippi to do two things, to take a gift to Paul, and secondly to serve Paul. And now, he was coming home, and Paul was afraid that the people would think that he had lost his courage, that he had become a coward and had fled, and he wanted to make sure that the people at the church knew that wasn’t true. What was Paul doing? He was protecting. He was protecting his friend. If you listen to Key Life much, you know that on Fridays, Pete Alwinson, who’s been my friend so many years, and my pastor for a number of those years, Pete Alwinson and I, and we’ve done it for over 25 years at Key Life, on Fridays, we devote the entire broadcast to questions and answers. Do you know one of the reasons we’re good friends? Because when I joined his church, he had written me years before he was serving a church in Connecticut, and I was in Florida, and he said, and I’m significantly older than he is. And he said, could I write you a letter maybe once a month or once every two months and ask you three questions? Would you answer it? And I wrote back and said, of course I would. And so, we became kind of acquaintances that way. Then I joined this church, my wife and I, and we loved that church and we’d love Pete being our pastor. He taught us so many good things and they wanted me to be a part of the leadership in the church. And I said, no, I don’t do that. I need to sit in the pew because I’m always teaching or preaching in classrooms and conferences and churches, and I need a place where I can sit. And this is my place to sit. And I have one calling in this church, if you touch Pete, I’m going to come after you. If you criticize Pete, I’m going to cut your legs off. If you don’t treat Pete with honor, then you’re going to have to deal with me. Now, I don’t know if I’d have done that, but I meant it when I said it. What did I become? I became the protector of Pete. And that was my responsibility in the church. And we’re such good friends today, for a number of reasons, because he’s done that with me, and I’ve done that with him. Friendship presupposes that you protect your friend. John DeBrine was my friend in Boston for years and years. And do you know how that started? Well, it started in a number of ways. He was older than me, and I used to say to the students when they would ask who’s the best preacher in America, and I’d say John DeBrine when he’s on. And they would say, well, who’s the second best preacher in America? And I would say John DeBrine when he’s off. But one time, John DeBrine, we’d been acquaintances. He called me up and he said, Steve, I don’t generally do this, but I’m going to tell you what I did. And he told me some really bad things that some people had said about me. And no, I’m not going to tell you what they were, because they were kind of true. And John said this. He said, I’ve spent the better part of two days tracking down those comments and who started them. And I want you to know this morning, I found out who started them, and I called them and told them some things they needed to hear. Like, that’s not true, you’re spreading lies, and you’re going to hurt Steve’s ministry, and I’m not going to let you do that. I can’t tell you what that meant to me. And that was the beginning of a friendship, because friends protect friends, even when friends don’t deserve protecting. Let me say it again. Friends protect friends, even when those friends don’t deserve protecting. I’m going to stand with you if you’re my friend, no matter what. You’ve heard me say what I saw on a bumper sticker. A friend will forgive you if you kill somebody, but a real friend will help you bury the body. Now, that’s funny. But there’s some truth in that. I’ve got friends, and if you’re going to have a friend, you’re going to know the bad side and the good side. When they do good things and do bad things, because that’s the nature of being human. But the commitment of friendship goes beyond that. It says, I’m going to be your friend. And I heard Jerry Falwell say this to a group of Rabbis one time. I’m going to be your friend, even if you don’t want me to be your friend. And I’m going to love you, even if you don’t want me to love you. That’s what changes an acquaintance into a friendship. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thank you Steve. And with that, we wrap up things for this week’s exploration of Philippians. Still more to discover next week, but first, tomorrow, it’s time again for Friday Q&A with Steve and our good friend Pete Alwinson. Tomorrow Steve and Pete will tackle a question about a religious text that they haven’t heard about previously. Hmm. Be sure to tune in for that one. Well, here we are in mid January, 2025 still has that new year smell. And if you’re looking to change things up for your quiet time, how about this? It’s a daily devotional edited by our own Justin Holcomb. Each day features a passage of Scripture paired with an excerpt from a classic theologian, author, or pastor, all focused on the person and work of Christ. Best of all, there are no specific dates, so listen, you miss a day, eh, you missed today, alright, no guilt. For a donation of $15 or more to Key Life, that book is our gift to you. Just call us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to order that book. Or to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact for our mailing addresses. And finally, if you’re blessed by the work of Key Life, would you help share that blessing with others through your financial support? Giving is easy. Just charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or you can now give safely and securely through text. Just pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.