The Friction You Need

Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance. (Proverbs 27:17, WEB)

Sharpening is not a gentle process. When iron meets iron there is friction, and there are sparks, and a little of each blade is worn away in the making of an edge. The proverb says that as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. It assumes contact, real weight pressed against real weight, and it assumes that being sharpened will sometimes feel like being ground down. You do not get a keener edge by being left in the drawer.

A brother who only ever agrees with you cannot do this work. Easy agreement is comfortable, and it changes nothing. You need at least one man who is willing to press, to ask the second question after you gave the easy answer, to notice when your check-in has gone quiet and to say so out loud instead of letting it slide. That kind of friend can be uncomfortable to keep around, especially on the mornings after a fall when you would rather be left alone with your shame than be looked at honestly. But dullness is what the enemy wants for you, a life where no one is close enough to catch the drift, where your edges slowly round off and you stop being any use in the fight. A blade nobody sharpens does not stay the same. It gets worse.

Ask God today for one man like this, a man steady enough to press without crushing and honest enough to tell you the truth you have been avoiding. And ask him to make you that man for someone else, because sharpening only happens when both blades are willing to bear the contact. The edge you both need is made in the grinding, in the questions that sting a little, and it is worth the sparks.