The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
– John 1:35-39
How do you get to know someone? One great way, perhaps even essential, is to spend time with them. It doesn’t have to be time prescribed for any specific purpose. All it needs to be is shared time and space where impromptu conversations happen. Go get lunch together. Gather in a home to play some video games. Take a drive around town with no planned route in mind. If you want to take it to the next level, travel together to an out-of-town conference. Get your families to vacation together. Share a beach house or a cabin in the woods. Where you go or what you do is not the important thing. Acquaintance is built through shared time. As it is with any other person, so it is with getting to know Jesus. In fact, the closest relationships Jesus had on earth began through the simple formula of shared time.
John’s gospel account tells us of how this began with Andrew, who was the brother of Simon Peter. Andrew and a friend were followers of John the Baptist’s ministry. They were with John one day, and took notice as John pointed to Jesus as the “Lamb of God.” Being drawn to Jesus, they followed after him. When Jesus noticed them following, he turned around and delivered a powerful sermon that left them forever changed. Just kidding. Actually, that is not at all what happened. What did happen is that Jesus asked them a simple question: “What do you seek?” Put yourself in Andrew’s shoes for a moment and you may realize that question is not easy to answer. It’s not that Andrew and his friend didn’t have an idea of what they were wanting, just that it would have been hard to put into words. What they could put into words was the simple desire to learn more about Jesus, which they expressed with a question of their own: “Where are you staying?” Jesus’ answer to their question is among my favorite phrases in the Bible. “Come and see.”
Come and see. In other words, come and hang out with me. The day was drawing toward its last hours. Maybe they shared the evening meal with Jesus, or maybe they just sat with him and whomever else Jesus was hanging with that evening. We are not told what they did for the remainder of the day, nor what they talked about. Whatever it was, I am sure it was good. So good, in fact, that Andrew ran to get his brother Simon so he could hang out with Jesus also. Thus began another beautiful friendship.
We have many ways we talk about discipleship in the Christian faith. We have practices we call spiritual disciplines, things like prayer, worship, and holy conferencing. These concepts serve us well in giving our life with Jesus structure and intentionality. Make no mistake, these are good practices. With that said, it is also possible for us to describe our discipleship in a very basic way. Whether praying, worshiping, searching the scriptures, or any other discipline, we find that they are all ways that we hang out with Jesus. In doing these things, we take it by faith that Jesus is present. And when Jesus is present, aren’t we always anticipating what he is going to say or do in our midst? Rather than seeing the spiritual disciplines as rote religious exercises, wouldn’t it be more helpful to think of them all as ways of hanging out with Jesus?
In my life, the vast majority of good memories with friends have taken place when we are just hanging out. Of course there are really special moments interspersed through the years. The same would be true for the disciples of Jesus. (They probably never tired of telling about the time they were in the boat during a storm on the Sea of Galilee.) How much more, though, were they formed during the times when the place and events were common? I love hanging out with friends, with my wife, with my children. What we do and where we are doesn’t much matter. Just being with them is where the power lies. So it is with Jesus as well. There are daily opportunities when Jesus is saying to us, “Come and see.” Come and see what might happen as we spend time together.
Will you take advantage of the chance to hang out with Jesus today?
See you along the Winding Path.
The Winding Path 