“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today’, that none of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”
~Hebrews 3:12,13
The other day I was reading a devotional to Pastor’s on the value of building lasting friendships. In the article, the writer said something that grabbed my attention.After talking about how in his younger years he had neglected taking time to develop deep friendships with other men in ministry as well as with fellow congregants; he then said this:
“In the years since, and sometimes in spite of myself, God has allowed me to experience a better way. I still have much to learn and lots of room for improvement as a friend, but by the grace of God, I’ve tasted the soul refreshing, sin suppressing, ministry enlivening nature of genuine friendship. I’ve realized that a failure to prioritize and cultivate friendships deprives me of significant joys and fresh ideas, contributes to loneliness and envy, and increases my vulnerability to sin. I’m a better pastor when I’m surrounded by friends.”
Stephen Witmer, Pastor Peppercil Christian fellowship
Ouch.
I have found this to be true. In the last several years of my life God has impressed this very thing on my heart. To my chagrin it was a part of my life I often have neglected.
We Pastors can be strange lot- isolating ourselves needlessly, sadly more often than not out of a strange introvertism. But then again- we probably are no different than most of you. Our insecurities cut us off from those we most need and our pride sets us up for a fall.
So in the last several years I have surrounded myself with some very good men who have become very dear friends to me. They probe and pry at my soul and they spur me on to love and good works. Some of them are from very different streams of the church than I came from. I have found this has deepened our friendship and even caused me to go deeper into the Word for the “whys” of what I believe. This has been soul refreshing and sin suppressing.
So my question for you is: Are you isolating yourself from deep soul refreshing, sin suppressing relationships or are you seeking them out?
Take Care brothers and sisters, that evil heart lies close at hand.
Because of grace,
Tim
