00:14 I had a secret.
00:17 Only it wasn’t mine to tell.
00:22 It was my best friend’s, Julian.
00:38 This was not the Julian I knew.
00:56 At the end of the meeting,
00:58 Brother Max wanted to know if I was OK.
01:03 I shrugged it off.
01:05 I just didn’t know who to talk to at that point.
01:16 A few years ago,
01:20 when my parents stopped attending meetings,
01:31 Julian was there for me.
01:55 I didn’t want to lose my friend.
02:00 But did I really know him?
02:17 I decided to ask Julian about the pictures he posted.
02:24 I told him it wasn’t right.
02:26 He needed to talk to the elders.
02:29 Then he got really defensive about it.
02:38 I knew I did the right thing.
02:42 When was I supposed to take care of this bill?
02:43 I’ve been telling you for the past month!
02:44 I just needed someone to talk to.
02:47 When did you tell me?
02:48 I’ve been working for the past couple of weeks.
02:49 Well, as if I don’t work?
02:51 Oh! Now you’re going to blame everything on me.
03:02 Brother Max wanted to know how I was really doing.
03:07 He could tell something was wrong.
03:10 So I opened up.
03:23 I told him everything.
03:25 I didn’t want to get my friend in trouble.
03:27 Max understood.
03:31 He asked me to read James 5:14, 15:
03:39 “Is there anyone sick among you?
03:42 “Let him call the elders of the congregation to him,
03:46 “and let them pray over him,
03:49 “applying oil to him in the name of Jehovah.
03:54 “And the prayer of faith
03:57 “will make the sick one well,
03:59 and Jehovah will raise him up.”
04:06 Max showed me that the elders can encourage and strengthen
04:10 a spiritually weak person.
04:13 Covering up a friend’s wrongdoing
04:15 prevents him from getting the spiritual help he needs.
04:21 All this time, I was focused on Julian and his deception,
04:26 and I didn’t speak up.
04:30 I’m glad I was honest with Brother Max.
04:34 The elders are like our spiritual doctors,
04:37 and even more, they’re our friends.
04:40 They want to help us.
04:43 Julian might receive discipline,
04:46 but that’s an expression of Jehovah’s love.
04:48 It could save his spiritual life.
04:56 Julian got the spiritual help he needed.
05:09 And I kept my best friend.
