when three's not a crowd

"Two's company, but three's a crowd"  These sage words of human relationship seem so true when talking about friendships and activities.  Two people can find common ground and enjoy a level of friendship and intimacy, but three people adds complexity.  With two people there are two relationships (A with B and B with A).  By adding a third person you more than quadruple the number of relationships (A with B, B with A, A with C, C with A, B with C, C with B, A with BC, B with AC, C with AB).  It's almost as if you are moving beyond friendship and entering a "mini-community".  But I have a friendship with two other men that is characterized by oneness.  These friends and I are slowly reading through the book of Hebrews (one chapter each month) and then getting together to read and discuss it.  We have oneness because we have a common interest in gleaning truth and understanding the message and the application to our lives from this great book.  I suppose it is this common love we share for the Lord that has forged our friendship.  Having three walking together through the text generates more insights and reinforces more truth and ultimately brings greater encouragement.  It's almost as if the three of us are standing around the base of a great statue and, as we look up, we are able to share our particular view of the statue.  Taken together, we have a more complete view and we see the statue in three dimensions.  And then I remembered that God, Himself, exists as a Holy Crowd: Father...Son....Holy Spirit.  Unity of purpose in seeking the Lord brings oneness and deepens bonds with the Lord and with each other.

 

Ecclesiastes 4:¹² Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
      And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

 

blessings,

Rob Smith