We are created for community. As Christians, we have brothers and sisters in the Lord who share a common fellowship with Jesus. Many of those brothers and sisters would be considered friends to most people. Christians even have friends outside the church they get along really well even if they don't agree on everything.
Scott Sauls asks this question, is real friendship too risky? Is real friendship just an illusion? Sauls takes a biblical approach to friendship in his book, Befriend. In the book, he does answer the question, friendship is risky. True friendship can be a beautiful thing while knowing the ugliest parts of another person.
Friends applaud one another and challenge one another. They agree and disagree. In the book, Sauls makes the case for friendship with various types of people in brief chapters and supporting it using Biblical passages.
Sauls says we should be friends with those with a different economic status, those who are far from God, those who are religious, and those of a different race. He also mentions being friends with different sexual preferences, those who are hurting, and even those who have a different political affiliation. One think that Sauls says is that while digital friendship (social media) can be friendship is not real. Granted, I have met people through social media that have become good friends yet we should not trade people we chat with on Twitter and Facebook for the real, raw one-on-one friendship.
There are not many good resources on friendship with a biblical point of view. I recommend Scott Sauls's new book for all who long for true friendships. I recommend churches read it together in a group and talk among one another about the things Sauls has written about.
Thanks Tyndale for letting mew review this book.
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