As children of God, we realize that when the Father brings us to Christ, a relationship begins; we are called into fellowship with the Father and His Son, as I John 1:3 says so plainly. That fellowship is where everything good begins. All that goodness flowing from the Father and the Son to each of us can and should be passed on to one another. The New Testament often speaks of fellowship among the brethren. But in these ever-worsening times, we face growing challenges in maintaining our fellowship and even more in strengthening our bonds with each other.

Our Creator says in Genesis 1:26, "Let Us make man in Our image." Then, a chapter later, in Genesis 2:18, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." The word "comparable" is translated in other versions as "suitable," "fit," "complementary," "a balancing counterpart," and "a helper who is right." Implied, of course, is that not only would this helper be suitable for the man but that he would also be suitable for the woman.

Interestingly, most anthropologists and demographers agree that the worldwide human sex ratio is within less than one percentage point of being 50:50 male to female. With all that humanity has done to defile the womb and destroy the sanctity of birth, God has ensured the proper global ratio of males to females. By creating the balancing counterpart for Adam, God set up the creation of the entire human race and all the abundant relationships that would result, all the way to our current relationships. Using the estimate of the total population throughout history as roughly 50-60 billion people, if each human knew only twenty other people—a very conservative number—then over one trillion unique relationships have existed, an astonishing number to ponder.

We can conclude that relationships are important to God. Notice Proverbs 11:14: "Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors [trusted relationships] there is safety" (see Proverbs 15:22). The apostle Paul writes of the relationship between the sexes in I Corinthians 11:11, "Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord." Expanding on that idea, Proverbs 27:17 instructs, "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."

This final scripture, with good reason, is frequently quoted or referred to when discussing relationships. Everyone recognizes the fundamental need to develop and maintain solid relationships within the Body of Christ to keep each other focused on the real task at hand. We believe that an independent Christian is a myth—no man is an island, nor should one aspire to be. And since God the Father and God the Son created us in Their image, we must strive among ourselves to emulate Their relationship or fellowship with each other.

This godly relationship is no great mystery; we do not need to discover it through a complex word study or deep dive into Scripture. That it is based on true outgoing concern, service, and sacrifice is not hard to comprehend. But in our excitement to delve into the more esoteric and profound mysteries of God, we sometimes neglect and take for granted the most straightforward and obvious principles of our sanctification journey. Our search for answers to these profound mysteries is a worthy and even critical endeavor, but what good is our enlightenment if we have failed at the most basic and more critical endeavor of looking after one another within the Body?

What, then, can we learn from this verse about sharpening the countenance of a friend? Obviously, if we are sharpening something, it must have first grown dull. Consider these two scriptures that speak of dullness:

Matthew 13:15: "For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed."

Acts 28:27: "For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed."

Both scriptures reference Isaiah 6:9-10, Isaiah's commission to prophesy to the sinful nation of Judah, a "people laden with iniquity." The nation had turned from God and sought security and pleasure from the world instead. While these Israelites maintained many of their old worship rituals, God had become offended at their empty hearts and careless lifestyles. He commands Isaiah, "Make the heart of this people dull" (verse 10). Quite frankly, God had had it with them.

It will help to take a quick look at the two different words—one in the Old Testament and one in the New—that are translated as "dull." Hebrew shamen (Strong's #8082) means "greasy, gross, fat, lusty." Other translations, instead of "dull," use "calloused," "fat," or "stubborn."

Its Greek counterpart, nothros (Strong's #3576), suggests sluggishness; it is literally "lazy." Figuratively, it implies "stupid." It describes a mentally dull or stupid person, a dolt, or one who evokes boredom. It can also suggest an insensitive, close-minded, disagreeable, or unpleasant individual. Commentator Albert Barnes notes that the word describes one who is "stupid and foolish, sensual and corrupt." Matthew Henry says it speaks of "a sinner's willful blindness and hardness" and "denotes sensuality and senselessness."

Dullness is not a character trait any of us would like to claim. Yet, in a general sense, it is an apt description of the world around us, which threatens to overtake us every day. It is peering into our windows, coming at us through our TVs, radios, laptops, and smartphones, distracting us and tempting us, feeling along the protective walls of our consciences for an opening, looking for a weakness—any way to get a foot in the door to corrupt or prevent our fellowship.

In this world, the intensity and frequency of abomination, turmoil, and contention are ratcheted up higher and higher every day, every week, every month. Just as soon as we feel like we have reached a breaking point, it somehow manages to get worse—sometimes a lot worse. We find we must contend with the widening political and social division in our nations, war, terrorism, pandemics, abortion, LGBTQ+ issues, mass shootings, inflation, blatant lies and deceptions from our governments, racial strife, and so many other problems.

This scenario sounds much like ancient Israel, a people whose eyes, ears, and hearts had grown dull. Coming out of such a morally dull world, we need to sharpen ourselves and one another, which is where we will focus our attention in Part Two.