Friendship
"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity."
– Proverbs 17:17
I am writing this from the plane on the way home from Argentina. This past week, I had the privilege of hosting my founding pastor and dear friend, Chris Hodges, along with six faith-driven leaders/CEO's at Estancia Cortaderas Lodge for a mixed-bag (duck, dove, perdiz, and pigeon) bird-hunting adventure. Argentina is a paradise for wing shooters, which is partly why I have made this trip an annual tradition for the past decade. We had an amazing time together. The hunting was fantastic (see pics), but even more enjoyable was the incredible fellowship around the table, sharing delicious Argentine food along with meaningful life conversation. We shared on topics that included where we are in our personal abiding walk with Jesus to how we are using our gifts and talents for impact in God's Kingdom. Many of our conversations turned to investing in the next generation of Leaders to fulfill the Great Commission, Highlands College's primary mission.
It was my tenth year of hosting men on this trip, and every year it surprises me in a new way. Some of the men on this trip are among my closest and longest friends. Others I am just getting to know. And that combination, deep-established friendship alongside new and developing relationships, turned out to be one of the richest parts of the entire week. There is something about shared adventure that strips away pretense and gets to the real stuff of life quickly. Over several days in the field and around the table, men who barely knew each other at the beginning of the week were connected and sharing their life stories and speaking into each other's lives by the end of it. That is the power of gathering together with Christ as the common denominator. When Jesus is the shared foundation, genuine connection can happen faster and go deeper than almost anything the world has to offer. That is a picture of what God intends for His people, and it is part of the life that is truly life.
Three Principles of Godly Friendship
Great Friendships can develop at Every Stage and Season of life: One of the things this week reinforced for me is that friendship is not a single category. It exists on a spectrum. Some friendships are decades deep, forged through shared history, hard seasons, and dozens of moments of showing up for one another. Others are just beginning, a first real conversation, time together in a duck blind, time around the fire pit or at the table breaking bread. The mistake many of us make as we get older and busier is that we stop pursuing new friendships. We lean on the ones we have, and we stop being curious about the people God is bringing into our lives. But some of the most meaningful relationships in my life have begun in recent years. Never underestimate what God can do with a new connection when Christ is the common thread that draws you together."Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise"Proverbs 13:20.
Great Friends Help Us Grow and Live to Our Full Potential: The best friendships in my life have been the ones where the other person loved me enough to tell me the truth, challenge my thinking, and call me toward a better version of myself. That kind of friendship requires trust and vulnerability that builds over time. But it starts with a willingness to be real and to create space for others to be real with us. My friend John Maxwell says, "Show me your friends, and I will show you your future". That is not just a leadership insight; it is a biblical principle. The people we do life with in our closest inner circle have an enormous shaping influence on our character, our faith, and our trajectory. Whether a friendship is new or old, if Christ is at the center, it has the potential to sharpen us and help us become who God is calling us to be."As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another"Proverbs 27:17.
Great Friendships Are Intentional and Built Over Time: Deep and lasting friendships don't just happen; they are intentionally built through shared experience, honest conversation, mutual investment, and a consistent commitment to show up for one another. It also requires us to keep pursuing relationships at every stage of life. As we all know, relationships can be challenging at times, but they are certainly worth the investment. This is why I continue to create opportunities like this trip to Argentina year after year. Shared adventure, great meals, and unhurried conversation are some of God's most effective tools for building the kind of brotherhood that sustains us. You leave a week like this with long-term friendships deepened and your new friendships well on their way. That is worth every bit of the investment. If you want great friends, you must be a great friend, and you have to keep putting yourself in environments where genuine connection can take root and grow."Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls, one can help the other up"Ecclesiastes 4:9-10.
As I reflect on this past week, I am grateful for the gift of friendships, both new and old. Men united not by industry or background but by a shared love for Jesus and a desire to live and lead for something that truly matters. That combination is powerful and available to each of us when we pursue friendship with intention and keep Christ at the center of it all. Do not take the gift of godly friendship for granted, and never stop building it no matter what season of life you are in.
Challenge Question: Are you intentionally investing in friendships at every stage, deepening the long ones and pursuing the new ones? And are you creating the kind of environments and experiences where genuine Christ-centered connection can take root and grow? Take a moment this week to reach out to both an old friend and a new one and invest in both.
Prayer:Father, thank You for the gift of friendship in every season and at every stage. Thank You for the brothers and sisters You have placed in our lives who love us, sharpen us, and walk faithfully alongside us. Help us to be the kind of friend that reflects Your love, present, loyal, honest, and generous with our time and our hearts. Give us wisdom in building our inner circle, courage to pursue new friendships, and the humility to keep Christ as the common ground that draws us together. May our friendships bring glory to You and bear fruit for Your Kingdom. In Jesus' name, Amen.
God did not design us to do life alone. Pursue godly friendship with intention at every stage and watch what He does through the bonds of brotherhood old and new.
Have a wonderful week!
