A Good Friend

Early on Monday morning, August 27, just as I was beginning a time of worship and devotions for the Point University staff, I learned that my good friend and former colleague at what was then Atlanta Christian College, Don Jeanes,  had died suddenly.  I’m still trying to process that news – no one I know would say that it wasn’t shocking.

Don and I worked together at ACC for about eight years, before we both left the full-time employment at ACC to work in churches. He moved to Johnson City where he was on the staff at First Christian Church and I became the minister at First Christian Church of College Park.  Much of the time we worked together he was vice president for administration and I was dean of students – and of course we both taught in the classroom. Those were challenging days at ACC and Don worked overtime in making ends meet and I tried to make sure I did my part in keeping the ends in the realm of possibility when it came to meeting.  We both served together on a board for ministers in Georgia and Florida that focused on affordable health insurance. That wasn’t any easier at that time than it is now!

In the summer of 1983, we went from seeing each other nearly every day, eating in each other’s homes and going out to eat together, to seeing each other occasionally. We sometimes would meet in Atlanta for breakfast or in Johnson City. We often saw each other at the North American Christian Convention and a time or two at an event connected with Christian Missionary Fellowship. 

As a child, I suspect I would have defined friend as someone close by who will come over and play. As an adult I’ve come to understand that friendship isn’t about proximity as much as it is about common ideals, common faith, common commitment. Don never failed to ask about my wife and children – even my parents and Vicki’s parents. Our conversations easily picked up where they last ended – no matter the time that had slipped by between them.

Oddly, or providentially (and providence can be odd, so perhaps both) my devotion for the Point staff that Monday morning was based on 1 Thessalonians 5:14, where Paul encourages us “to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with all.”

When I think about Don’s life, from the time I first met him in the summer of 1976 to the last conversation I had with him, I think those words from Paul are apt descriptions of his life. Don was very good at admonishing those who saw life and ministry as an opportunity to be lazy and still get a paycheck. He was a great encourager for those who were down and out, troubled, and fearful. I could tell countless stories of how he helped people struggling to get the Jesus story integrated into their own lives. He was intense about life – but that intensity was shaped by a patient willingness to help anyone and everyone get to the next step.

The death of a friend hits us in ways that that can be a challenge. When we lose family members, other believers are quick to offer a helping hand. Sometimes we don’t do so well when other believers lose friends. But the water out of which we are born into Christ and create friendships marked by the common faith we have in Christ is sometimes thicker than blood!

To call yourself a friend of Don Jeanes means that you are standing in a long line of people who know that their circle of friendship has been lessened today because he no longer walks among us. But equally true, to call yourself a friend of Don Jeanes means that you understand the outcome of faith is always victory over the world and there is a sense of sober celebration in knowing Don’s victory.

Don lived a life where, because of his faith in Christ, he admonished the unruly, encouraged the fainthearted, helped the weak, and was patient with all. I’m grateful that I was among his circle of friends and experienced his gift for ministry.