Godly Friendships Week 2, Day 1

Batman or Superman? (Friends)

A little boy and his family often moved over a period of a few years. It's tough when you are in and out of different schools so often. One day, when he was sitting at home, he was sad. The little boy asked his dad,

“Dad, who would you be? Superman or Batman?” The dad said, “Son, I’m kind of busy right now. Ask me later.” The little boy said, “Dad, come on. Who do you want to be? Superman or Batman?"

The dad stopped what he was doing for a second and thought about it. He looked at his son and said, "Well, if I have to choose between those two, I guess I would choose to be Superman." The little boy said, “Why would you want to be Superman, Dad?” The dad said, “Well, he can fly, and he is really strong, and he can leap tall buildings with a single bound. I guess that’s why.”

Well, the dad went back to working on what he was doing, and the little boy asked his dad, “Dad, aren’t you going to ask me who I would like to be?” The boy’s dad stopped what he was doing and said, "Okay, son; who do you want to be, Superman or Batman?"

The little boy said, "I want to be Batman." The dad said, “That’s good, son.” The little boy said, “Don’t you want to know why?” The dad again stopped what he was doing and said, “Okay, son, why do you want to be Batman?" The little boy looked at his dad and said, "I want to be Batman because Batman has a friend."

The Dad stopped and turned around and saw a tear in his son's eye. He said, "Son, do you need a friend?" The little boy said, "Yeah. I need a friend more than I need Superman."

Don’t all of us? There is a cry from the human spirit that longs for friendship, but true friends are hard to find.

I think there are several reasons for this.

We move around so much. Did you know the average American will move 14 times in the course of their lifetime? It’s frustrating. You establish a friendship, and then they move away. Over the next ten years, half of your neighborhood will move out, and new people will move in.

We have been burnt by people. How many times have you given your heart to someone else, only to have it stepped on? How many times has a friend made a promise but then didn’t come through?

God made us relational beings, but we are hurt relational beings. We guard our hearts in fear that we might get hurt again, so we settle for superficial relationships where we spend most of our time talking about the weather, or sports, or current events, or what the show on TV last night was about.

We wonder, “how do I get close to someone without the risk of getting hurt?”

The answer is you don’t. The only way to not get hurt is not to get close to anyone. Don’t open your heart, don’t bear your soul, and don’t let anyone in. Keep the walls up close and tight. And a lot of people chose to do that.

You won’t get hurt, but you also won’t have the joy and the thrill of doing life with others. You’ll be safe, but you will be empty inside.

That is not the life that God has planned for you and me. God put us on this earth to do life with one another. To love one another, care for one another, cry with one another, and rejoice with one another.

We need friends who will brag on our strengths, cover our weaknesses, and never talk behind our back about us.

Do you have any friends like that? Do you have any friends who really care about you and want to help you be the person that God created you to be? Most people don’t, so you need to be very selective about who you have as your closest friends because the Bible says that bad company corrupts good character.

That verse means that you become like the people you hang around with. There is an ancient proverb that says, “he who runs with dogs eventually gets fleas.”

If you are hanging around with people who don’t help you grow spiritually, then you probably won’t grow spiritually. If you hang around people who party, you will probably party too. In our time out today, let's critique the friends you have with our definition of friendship and see if we know what kind of friendships we actually have.

Time out:

A great definition of a friend is someone who brags on your strengths, covers your weaknesses, and never talks behind your back. Write down the names of your top 3 friends, and let's see if they pass the friendship test. Put a checkmark by their name if they do those things for you. Then on space 4, I want you to write your name and do the same test. Are you the friend that your friends need you to be?

Friend: Brags on me, Covers my weaknesses, Never talks behind my back.

1. Are any of your friends trying to get you to do anything that God would not want you to do?

2. How are your friends helping you grow closer to God each day?

3. Look up the following verses and write down what the Bible says about friendship.
Proverbs 17:17 says what about friends?
Proverbs 18:24 says what about friends?
John 15:13 says what about friends?

4. Do your friends have those characteristics in their life? Do you have those characteristics?

5. Pray and ask God to help you have God-honoring friendships. Friends that build you up spiritually and don’t tear you down.