Human beings were created for relationships, and are created by them. Though words like ‘friendship’, ‘relationship’, and ‘community’ are ubiquitous in our culture — both inside the church and outside — honest assessment requires us to admit that we are far more acquainted with isolation and fragmented relationships than we are with community and friendship. Mother Teresa, who spent her life serving the poorest of the poor in Calcutta, said that the worst disease she encountered was not leprosy, AIDS, or cancer, but loneliness.

Where can we experience true intimacy? Precisely because we were created for intimacy with God and with one another, friendship is a central theme in the Bible — featured more prominently than marriage or parenting. As such, God’s word provides us both with portraits of friendship as well as postures through which we can cultivate friends. Most importantly, the Bible narrates for us the grand account of God’s work to reconcile us to Himself in Christ. In Jesus, we find true friendship with God and the ability to experience intimacy with God and with those around us.