Proverbs 27:10, 17 says,

Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend, nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away. 

As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

I would like to spend a few minutes unpacking the lessons and implications of these verses. They are so important as I see generational shifts in ministry.

I recently had a chance to attend a Ministry DNA retreat hosted by Brent Armstrong from Tucson Baptist Church. It was a retreat that was focused on fathers and sons in ministry. It was an eclectic group of fathers and sons from a fairly broad number of ministry “camps.” The time was refreshing as we discussed the dynamics of fathers and sons ministering together, or sometimes just both being in ministry with different nuances of approach.

We have seen many of these relationships in broader evangelicalism—the Stanley’s, Osteen’s, and others come to mind. There is often a tendency for the sons to correct the perceived errors of their fathers, and to develop a completely new set of friends and peers in ministry. The relationship becomes contentious and the new direction is dangerous. …

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