“One friend in a lifetime is much; two are many; three are hardly possible,” wrote historian Henry Adams.
How true it is.
When we strip away the layers of acquaintances, classmates, relatives, associates, and coworkers from our circle, I suspect very few of us find more than one or two we can count as true friends.
What is true for us is also apparently true for God. Moses, Abraham, Enoch, and Noah constitute the handful of those whom God called friends.
I have been privileged in my life to count as a friend a man who was a friend to many. J. Duncan Brown, who passed away in October (CT, Nov. 11, 1991, p. 52), was not a famous man. Renown swirled all about him and lit up his large family of friends, but it kept its distance from Duncan himself for fear it would interfere with the many tasks he had shouldered.
Duncan was always laboring to further the kingdom of God. Whether it was his work as chairman of the National Advisory Board of the Salvation Army, or as a member of the boards of Christian Coalition Outreach, Grove City College, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Christianity Today, Inc., he was constantly pushing ahead, reaching for the future.
Duncan cared deeply for the body of Christ and worked relentlessly to build it up. A man of wealth, he gave generously and joyfully. A man of influence, he shared his power and lost no opportunity to serve others. A tireless laborer, he left a legacy of deeds. Duncan was colorful, cheerful, and overflowing with hope. He was just the kind of friend anyone would want to have.
A successful businessman who gave richly of his time and money to Christian organizations, Duncan never let his busy schedule preclude his devotion to the Lord or his friends.
God Will Provide
There was hardly a week that went by that Duncan wouldn’t call me once or twice to talk earnestly about the worrisome work of financing a seminary. Always, always, he would remind me, “Bob, somehow God will provide.” His unshakable faith in the resources of God was reassuring and will never leave me.
Our travels together sometimes took us to the far reaches of the world or to the far reaches of his beloved Pennsylvania. But whether we walked the streets of Amsterdam or the back nine of a Pittsburgh golf course, his joy and his hope always buoyed me.
I was just one of many whom Duncan befriended. The epitome of lay leadership, he was intent on instilling his love for the labors of the Lord in others by nurturing them and mentoring them in their careers. Just ask Bill Pendleton, a fellow Pittsburgh businessman whom Duncan took under his wing.
“Duncan was my guardian angel,” says Bill. “He befriended me and loved me. He invested in me as a lay person and as a man. And for a person of such means to serve me was remarkable. I often joked that I had the richest chauffeur in the world, but his insistence on serving really amazed me. I could only ask, ‘Why me?’ But I’m eternally grateful the good Lord allowed him to pass my way, and I’m sure there are a million people who can say that.”
Frederick Buechner succinctly described the friendship of God: “It is a staggering thought.” But having known Duncan, having prayed with him, having served with him, having been loved by him, what might seem staggering to others seems sure to me. Like Abraham, he was a man of faith who truly believed God would provide. Like Noah, he found favor in the eyes of God as he walked with him confidently toward the future. Like Moses, he gave leadership with a passion and talked with God as with a friend.
And I would like to think that as he did with Enoch, the Lord just kept Duncan walking one day and took him home forever. It’s just the kind of thing one friend would do for another.
J. Duncan Brown: a man of faith, a tireless worker for the Lord, a champion of Christian institutions and causes. He was a friend of God; he was a friend of mine.
ROBERT E. COOLEY
