「當你陷入絕境，深夜輾轉難眠，你可以打電話給誰？」我在多年前第一次聽到這個問題的時候，令我深受震撼。我究竟有幾位友誼深厚的朋友，能讓我在需要幫助的時候去打擾他們呢？我並不確定。

聖經中有很多關於友誼的論述，描述朋友會保守秘密（箴言11章13節，16章28節）、給予建議（27章9節），也會尊重彼此的界線（25章17節）。但或許唯獨耶穌對友誼的定義最為震憾人心！對廣告商而言，我們是銷售市場；對雇主來說，我們是員工。但對耶穌這位萬有的主宰來說，我們竟是「朋友」！（約翰福音15章15節）耶穌所定義的友誼，是建立在彼此都愛上帝、愛人和願意犧牲自己的基礎上（13、15節）。祂已親自加以示範，並要我們去傳遞這樣的友誼（12節）。

聽到這個問題的幾年後，我和妻子經歷一次重大的打擊。只有少數人知道發生了什麼事，而達倫是其中之一。他開車兩小時來看我，傾聽我的憤怒和痛苦，並為我祈禱。達倫是大忙人，那天有很多事要處理。但他卻效法耶穌的榜樣，甘願犧牲自己。原來在我需要幫助的時候，我確實有一位這樣的朋友。

現在的問題是，當別人需要幫助時，我是不是他的「深夜密友」呢？畢竟，要結交更多知心好友，最好的方法就是先成為別人的好友。

“Who can you call at midnight when everything has gone wrong?” This question shook me when I first heard it years ago. How many of my friendships were strong enough that I could impose on them in my hour of need? I wasn’t sure.

Scripture has much to say about friendship, describing a friend as someone who keeps confidences (Proverbs 11:13; 16:28), shares advice (27:9), and respects boundaries (25:17). But perhaps no one defined friendship more powerfully than Jesus. While to advertisers we are markets and to employers we are staff, to Him, the Master of all, we are “friends” (John 15:15). Jesus described His kind of friendship as being built on shared love of God and personal sacrifice (vv. 13, 15)—something He Himself modeled and called us to pass on (v. 12).

A couple of years after hearing that question, my wife and I suffered a significant loss. Darren, one of the few who knew what happened, traveled two hours to see me, listen to my anger and pain, and pray for me. Darren is a busy man who had plenty of other things to do with his day. But he followed Jesus’ example of sacrificial friendship. I really did have someone in my hour of need.

The question now is whether others have a “friend at midnight” in me. For there are few better ways to make more friends than to be one.