MEN

I attended a Men's group last night that comprised of one of my best friends, and a guy a few years older, and definitely a few years wiser. We had been asked to enter into it because at one time my friend and I were both in youth work, and yet not accountable to anyone. That however, is irrelevent to this post. I have always been struck by the dynamic of friendship, and by how the relationship progresses from the general to the specific; and yet how in some friendships this process happens quickly while in others it never happens. I have friends, and I have people I know in the Christian world, all of whom I should call brother, and yet few of whom I would call friend. How can I be loving as Jesus loved if I cannot look upon them as friend. Why is it I value friendship above brotherhood? Is there something fundamentally wrong here, for I use the word brother often in Christian cirlces, and I understand in part, its connotations. Despite this, my heart recognises so very few of them, and my patience and tollerance even fewer. Sure, I can be pleasant with people, but that is not loving my brother, and surely that leaves me so far short of a full relationship with Jesus. I have veered off my main point, and perhaps I shall return to it soon. There is much to say. In regard to my previous post, please do not misunderstand my central point: I do not doubt that we need to study the word and be fully engaged with the gospel. However, I have to question whether debating the gospel is as effective as sharing the gospel through living and engaging in life with people. Perhaps I know not what I am saying.