BE A STANDER

My niece sometimes brings a small gift for me, a little inspirational booklet called “Our Daily Bread.” There is usually a story that that is intended as spiritual food to meet the challenges for that particular day. The one for yesterday was called “Be a Stander,” and tells about a western novelist Stephen Bly who says that in the days of America’s Old West there were two types of friends (and horses): runners and standers. At the first sign of trouble the runner would bolt – abandoning you to whatever peril you were facing. But a stander would stick with you no matter what the circumstances. Unfortunately, you wouldn’t know which kind of friend you had until trouble came and then it was too late – unless your friend was a stander.

Rather than being concerned with what kind of friends we have, however, we ought to consider what kind of friends we are. In the final days of the Biblical Paul’s ministry, as he awaited death, some who had ministered with him turned into runners and abandoned him to face execution alone. In his last letter, Paul told about a former associate, Demas, who had run off, then simply stated in his letter to another friend Timothy, “Only Luke is with me.” Luke was a stander. While undoubtedly disappointed by those who had deserted him, Paul must have been deeply comforted to know he was not alone.

Bill Crowder concludes this incident by reminding the reader of a verse in the book of Proverbs that says “a friend loves at all times.” He exhorts us to consider what kind of a friend we would be in such circumstances – a runner or a stander and observes “A true friend stands with us in times of trial.”