Keeping Our Distance

by Chris Simmons

We read in Luke 22:54-60, “And having arrested Him, they led Him away, and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance… And a certain servant-girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight, and looking intently at him, said, ‘This man was with Him too.’ But he denied it, saying, ‘Woman, I do not know Him.’ And a little later, another saw him and said, ‘You are one of them too!’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I am not!’ And after about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, saying, ‘Certainly this man also was with Him, for he is a Galilean too.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I do not know what you are talking about.’” Peter had once claimed that even if everyone else left the Lord, he would always stay close to Him and in fact vowed that he would die with Him (Matthew 26:33-35). Now, after the arrest of Jesus, we see Peter keeping his distance.

How close to Jesus do we want to be? It’s easy and appropriate to be critical of Peter, and indeed Peter was critical of himself (Luke 22:61-62), for distancing himself from the Lord and ultimately denying his relationship with Him. Peter by keeping his distance failed the Lord. But each one of us must be honestly introspective and answer the question every day of our lives of how close we want to be. Peter illustrates the point that it’s not answered through words alone but through our actions. It’s often been said, if we’re not as close to the Lord as we used to be, rest assured, it wasn’t the Lord who moved. We are individually responsible for “examining” ourselves to assess if we are “in the faith” and to determine if “Jesus Christ is in (us)” (II Corinthians 13:5). We must determine if we are drifting away from God (Hebrews 2:1) and slowly separating ourselves as Peter did. Therefore we must ourselves consider: in what ways can we try distancing ourselves from Jesus today? Are we ever guilty of…

Distancing ourselves from God’s word. If we’re honest with ourselves, can we say we’re as close to God’s word as we should be? Paul wrote that God’s word is to “richly dwell within you” (Colossians 3:16). Daily study, meditation, examination, and reflection is to be part of our lives. Let’s begin with this question, do you know where your Bible is? If you do, how much time does your Bible spend in your hands or on your lap as you diligently and humbly consider God’s revelation to us? What is it in our lives that is creating a separation between us and God’s word? The Hebrew writer speaks of the “encumbrances” of life that “entangle us” and prevent us from running “with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). “Encumbrances” that may not be sinful in and of themselves but which simply detract from our devotion and service to God and which distance us from spending the time with God’s word that we need to. What is it that is causing us to put down God’s word in favor something else?

Distancing ourselves from prayer. Communication is essential in the world we live in and if we’re going to be close to someone, we’re going to make sure we communicate on a frequent and meaningful basis. How many friendships and marriages have suffered because of the distance caused by a lack of communication? When it comes to our relationship with God, do we find ourselves distancing ourselves from prayer that is both frequent and meaningful? Paul didn’t need to elaborate when he wrote “pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17). We distance ourselves from God when we fail to “devote yourselves to prayer” (Colossians 4:2).

Distancing ourselves from our brethren. To distance ourselves from our brethren and purposefully avoid their fellowship is to distance ourselves from God. Our relationship with our brethren has a huge impact on our relationship with God. What we do or don’t do for our brethren we do or don’t do for the Lord (Matthew 25:40, 45) and to avoid opportunities to be around our brethren is avoid God. We need each other and to be close to one another, and to that end, the Hebrew writer exhorts us to “consider how to stimulate one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24). When you distance yourself from your brethren, your brethren suffer but more importantly, your relationship with your heavenly Father suffers.

Distancing ourselves from worship. The Hebrew writer continues in Hebrews chapter 10 to warn us about distancing ourselves from the “assembling together” to worship God (Hebrews 10:25). We need to establish the lifelong “habit” of always assembling with the saints whenever the opportunity arises. Worship has to be viewed as a privilege and honor that is to never be neglected. We can’t draw close if we keep our distance from every opportunity of worship.

Distancing ourselves from the lost. Granted, we are not to establish our closest relationships with those who are unbelievers and walking in darkness (II Corinthians 6:14-18) but when we try to distance ourselves from those who desperately need the light of the gospel in their sin-darkened lives, we distance ourselves from the very purpose for which Jesus came to this world (Luke 19:10; Matthew 20:28). Jesus, when criticized for not distancing Himself from those known to be sinners, exhorts us all in Matthew 9:12-13 to remember that “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick… for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” A physician cannot heal the sick when he tries to keep his distance from them and avoid them and we can’t reach the lost if we try to avoid them and keep our distance.

How near to God do you want to be? James wrote in James 4:8-9, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”