Having lived in Japan for almost six years, we learned how a different culture views friendship. In Western culture, we tend to freely and easily imply that we have a relationship with someone when we have just met. You have probably experienced this at work or school. A person is introduced to you. You chat, depart, and go about your life. Before you know it, this acquaintance refers to you as “best of friends.” Our Japanese hosts found this behavior both humorous and challenging. Friendship, in their eyes, required a lengthier time together so that you truly got to know who this person was and that their words and actions were meaningful, consistent, and dependable because they matched how they lived their life. Friendship was viewed as a steadfast commitment to each other and was not something given away lightly. Friendship demanded a trust that only came from spending intimate time together. This is what Jesus is telling us today. We cannot simply view our relationship with him like some adoring fan of a popular public figure. If that is how we base our relationship with people, knowing only the public picture and nothing of who they are personally, how can we ever get to see the person in such a way that they, or we, would lay our lives down for each other? Christ wants us to know and trust him with our entire life. This takes a real commitment on our part to give ourselves totally to him, investing time in prayer, reading of scripture, and living our lives in every way possible to honor his commandment to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself.” Only in this way can we establish the intimate relationship he genuinely desires for each of us.