Be A Stander 곁을 지키는 자가 되라
2 Timothy 4:9-18
9 Do your best to come to me quickly,
10 for Demas, because he loved this world,
has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica.
Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.
11 Only Luke is with me.
Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.
12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus.
13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls,
especially the parchments.
14 Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm.
The Lord will repay him for what he has done.
15 You too should be on your guard against him,
because he strongly opposed our message.
16 At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me.
May it not be held against them.
17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength,
so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.
And I was delivered from the lion's mouth.
18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.
To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
서부극 소설가 스티븐 블라이는 미국의 서부개척시대에는 도망치는 자와 곁을 지키는 자,
두 종류의 친구(그리고 말)가 있었다고 합니다.
당신에게 문제가 생기는 즉시 도망치는 사람은 당신이 직면한 어려움이 무엇이든 상관하지 않을 것입니다.
Western novelist Stephen Bly 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.
그러나 당신의 곁을 지키는 사람은 어떠한 상황에서도 당신과 함께 할 것입니다.
불행하게도 문제가 발생할 때까지는 당신에게 어떤 유형의 친구가 있는지 알 수 없습니다.
그때 그 친구가 당신 곁을 지키는 그런 유형의 사람이 아니라면 이미 늦은 것입니다.
But a stander would stick with you no matter 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.
우리는 우리의 친구들이 어떤 유형인지 신경을 쓰는 대신
우리 자신이 어떤 유형의 친구인지 생각해보아야 합니다.
바울의 사역 말기에 죽음을 기다리는 상황에서 그와 함께 사역을 했던 몇몇 사람들은
도망쳐서 그가 혼자 처형당하도록 내버려두었습니다.
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 Paul’s ministry, as he awaited death,
some who had ministered with him
turned into runners and abandoned him to face execution alone.
이에 바울은 그의 마지막 서신에서 자신을 버린 이들(데마 같은 이)을 언급하면서,
“누가만이 나와 함께 있느니라”(딤후 4:11)라고 간단히 기술했습니다.
누가는 곁을 지키는 자였습니다.
바울은 자신을 저버린 사람들 때문에 분명히 실망 했음에도 불구하고
자신이 혼자가 아니라는 것을 깨닫고는 깊은 위안을 받았음에 틀림이 없습니다.
In his last letter, he listed some (like Demas) who had run off,
then simply stated, “Only Luke is with me” (2 Tim. 4:11).
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.
잠언은 “친구는 사랑이 끊이지 아니하고”(17:17)라고 말합니다.
역경의 시기에 우리는 의지할 수 있는 친구들이 필요합니다.
우리가 아는 사람이 곤경에 처할 때 우리는 그에게 어떤 유형의 친구가 될 것입니까?
도망치는 자입니까, 아니면 곁을 지키는 자입니까?
Proverbs tells us that “a friend loves at all times” (17:17).
During times of adversity, we need friends we can rely on.
When the people we know face trouble, what kind of friend will we be
—a runner or a stander? — Bill Crowder