We watched that silly video to continue our discussion of friendship and to discuss the do’s and don’ts of friendship. In the show, Plankton is trying to use Spongebob to get the infamous “secret recipe” for crabby patties, while Spongebob is simply trying to enjoy Plankton’s friendship. Obviously, Plankton would be considered a bad “friend” because he had ulterior motives. I’m sure we can each relate to at least one of these two perspectives. But let’s talk about the real goal of friendship.

The goal of friendship isn’t just companionship; it is to help the other person get to heaven. We have talked many times about how we are social beings, made for communion.

This means that friendship isn’t just a nice idea but is an essential part of who we are as persons. We were created to be in relationship with God and with one another. Even Christ needed friends while He was on earth. Remember His friend Lazarus? Lazarus was one of Jesus’ disciples and the brother of Martha and Mary. When the sisters came to Jesus and explained that Lazarus had died, Jesus asked where he had been buried. As Jesus walked to the tomb where Lazarus lay, we hear the shortest sentence in the entire Bible: “And Jesus wept” (John 11:35). This shows us that Christ cared deeply about His friend, and even though He knew He had the power to raise Lazarus from the dead, Christ still experienced the same emotions as we would if we lost a friend.