What Does Friendship Have to Do with Your Faith?

Posted on Jan 31, 2019 Topic : Men's Christian Living, Women's Christian Living
Posted by : Christopher Ross

Making friends and feeling accepted is an important part of adolescence. Encourage your tweens to reach out and make new acquaintances. Share this excerpt from A Kid's Game Plan for Great Choices with them today.

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There I was, in a new school in a new town—alone.

My friends, my basketball team...everyone and everything familiar to me was 400 miles away in another state. My family and I pulled up our roots in Lincoln, Nebraska, packed all our things into a moving truck, and headed south to start a new life in a new place—Missouri.

I set my tray on an empty cafeteria table and just stared at my lunch.

At least my food looked familiar: chicken nuggets, tater tots, and an apple. But is it as good as what Mrs. Steiber served up back home?

I was about to find out when a voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Hey, uh...is it okay if I sit here?"

It was another new kid—a boy I'd met that morning when a counselor was showing me around.

"I'm Dillon," he said, sticking out his hand. "I saw you during the tour. I moved here from Kansas."

"I'm Chris," I responded, shaking his hand. "I came here from Nebraska."

"Go, Huskers," he said. "We don't have a major football team in St. Louis—at least anymore," Dillon said. "But we do have the Cardinals. And people are crazy about them."

"I know," I said, laughing.

Suddenly, my unfamiliar surroundings weren't all that strange to me. And suddenly, I wasn't feeling so alone. My new friend was changing everything.

I can't think of too many things worse than sitting alone in a crowded cafeteria.

Enter a room filled with faces you don't recognize (especially if you're the new kid at school), and your stomach knots up. Your knees shake, your mouth feels like it's full of peanut butter, and the cool T-shirt suddenly looks like you've run a marathon in it.

As you look around the room, you notice something strange: Everybody is hanging out in herds, or cliques—small, exclusive clumps of guys and girls who share the same interests. Keep looking, and you'll see all kinds of herds: athletes, gamers, surfers, skaters, science buffs, and artists.

You already know friendship is important. But why does it feel so weird to be alone? And just why do guys and girls hang out in herds, anyway. One word: acceptance. No one wants to be left out. When a small group of friends takes us in, we don't have to worry about being alone. Are herds bad? Yes and no.

Jesus hung out with a herd—those who followed Him. They often met by themselves for prayer, teaching, and good times. But whenever outsiders came along, the group opened up to them. Jesus was not selective of whom He befriended. He accepted everyone.

As we try to make more friends, what can we learn from Jesus?

"You are better off to have a friend than to be all alone, because then you will get enjoyment out of what you earn. If you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without a friend nearby, you are really in trouble…someone might be able to beat up one of you, but not both of you. As the saying goes, 'A rope made from three strands of cord is hard to break'" (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 CEV)