Building Friendships in the Church – Is It God’s Will?

The word friends and friendships get thrown around a lot today, and the truth is there are as many ideas of what these mean as there are people. It can be as little as talking to someone in the lobby of the church each week and saying that is friendship, to the other end of the spectrum where you get together with someone else weekly and talk on the phone multiple times during the week about any and everything. So being friends means a lot of different things today.

But becoming friends and being a part of the lives of those we attend church with is something each of us should care about. Just think of Jesus’ words when speaking to His disciples, He said (John 15:15-16) “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends , for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.” And so among other things these verses are talking about, we see friendships were a desire and priority for Christ, and if this was true for Him being God, how much more should it be a desire we have.

The problem!
We live in a tremendously busy time. The cost of living and the desire for a descent standard of living makes it so one has to work hard and long, add to this the time spent commuting, activities for our kids, chores around the house, and getting the needed rest so we can do it again the next day, and there’s not much time or energy left for friendships where we can connect with someone else.

Then there’s our culture.
Where once we were a more settled society, living in the same place for long periods of time, having the same neighbors for years, now we are mobile and independent, and whereas once community and family was what marked our lives now isolation does, and so more and more the idea of having friends as a part of our lives is disappearing from our world.

Yet, as believers in Christ we are part of what the Bible calls the Body, and by implication being part of a body means we are to be connected with the other parts.

And so all this to say,
I hope you’ll make hanging out with one another more and more a priority in your life. That in spite of the pressure of living day to day, culture trends, or anything else, you will say no to them and yes to those things which promote family, friendships, and community.

Every group outside of Sunday morning and Wednesday night at church has this as part of its goal – intimacy and friendships! So maybe a way for you to make and become friends is joining one of these.

Friendships are to be spontaneous…
But beyond these, friendship can and is also to be spontaneous, so some of the best fellowship can be that unplanned lunch after church, a dessert after Wednesday night, or even a football game on Monday night. What’s important is we as a church do get to know each other and just hang out at times.

So let’s grow in this area! Let’s keep working at it (all of us) until we become a church that truly cares about each other and shows it by being involved in each others life.

Lead us Lord we pray! Make it happen!
-Pastor Scott