Choose Friends: 3 Ways to Connect

Choose Friends: 3 Ways to Connect
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” -C.S. Lewis

 In the second installment of our “Choose Connection” series at Christ Presbyterian, we dove in to the Bible’s teaching on friendship. Perhaps nowhere in modern life is our lack of connection so evident as in our lack of true, close friendships. A 2021 survey found that the share of Americans who report having no close friends increased fourfold over the last 30 years.
 
Strictly speaking, as C.S. Lewis points out, friendship is not necessary for survival. We can limp through life alone if we so choose. But friendship makes life worth living. Here are three choices you can make this week to connect to your friends:
 

1. I will make time to listen to a friend. My dad used to tell me, “Son you have two ears and one mouth.” The implication is obvious. Yet most of us, myself included, interact with our friends like we have two mouths and no ears. Take a friend out for lunch or coffee and just listen to them. If you talk, ask questions. Avoid the temptation to talk about yourself.
2. I will make an honest effort to make a new friend. I had our congregation at CPC write down a list of their true friends on Sunday. If recent surveys are remotely accurate, many folks performing this exercise will find that don’t have enough close friends. Thankfully, we can remedy this situation by being intentional, by making a choice to connect. Ecclesiastes 4:9 states the truth clearly: “Two are better than one.” Choose two – choose connection.
3. I will thank a friend for picking me up when I was down. Good friends are there for us in dark times. Friends make sacrifices to help each other out. Think of someone who has helped you through a dark time and reach out to them to let them know how much you appreciate what they did for you. Ecclesiastes 4:10 says, “For if [friends] fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up.”

 
Don’t choose to do life alone. Choose connection – choose friends.
 
Your Pastor and Friend,

John Knox Foster