You’ve heard the saying, “show me your friends and I’ll show you your future”. This might unfortunately imply that you should only offer friendship to those who live up to a certain standard, but it is undeniable that our friendships have consequences.
Character is a funny thing—it is shaped slowly but surely, by what we repeatedly do and who we are repeatedly around. The Bible certainly speaks to the importance of watching who we allow to put in those long character-shaping hours, and issues a stark warning that “bad company corrupts good character” in 1 Corinthians 15:33. At the same time, Jesus shows us how beautiful it is to see sacrificial love bring out the best in someone we might not have thought to be worth our time. When it comes down to it, friendship is a powerful thing, whether it builds up through honour and love, or tears down with bitterness and gossip.
In Issue 31 of Love Is Moving, we want to dive into the topics of friendship and mentorship, and figure out how social community shapes our spiritual reality. The latest research produced from a nationwide study and countless hours of research carried out by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and a variety of other faith-based organizations is called “Renegotiating Faith”. This study has concluded that a huge amount of young people leave the faith when they enter their university years. Surprisingly though, they also found that one of the biggest contributing factors of sticking with the faith comes down to how teenage spiritual friendships translate into young adulthood in the big pond of university campuses.
Believe it or not, mentorship and intentional friendships change lives.
This issue kicks off with a particularly insightful and practical article on this subject called “How to Make Good Friends… And Be One Too” written by Morgan Clark. We look at the influence that can come from unexpected sources in Daniel Dorman’s piece, “A List of My Dead Mentors” and “What the Hockey Rink Taught Me”. Finally, we take a look at how these concepts apply directly to the ministry life in the articles “Church was Meant to Be Simple” by Curtis Hartshorn and “Church is like Mayonnaise” by Matt Mckendry.
Let’s take a look fresh look at friendship, and see how God is working in yours.
Sincerely,
Conor Sweetman
Editor
Articles
How Friendship Can Change the World – Alyssa Esparaz
3 Shifting Priorities of Ministry – Andrew Wood
The Heart of Awana – Jon Imbeau
The Spines of Books and Cadavers – Carly Ververs
Church Was Meant To Be Simple – Curtis Hartshorn
It’s Okay Not to be Okay – Dagmar Morgan
A List of My Dead Mentors – Daniel Dorman
Squatting in Freedom – Erin Ford
A Call for Gentle Christians – Heather Mitton
Who Are My Brothers and Sister? – Jesse Hove
Love Takes Risks – Joel Erhardt
When Your Life Looks Different Than You Expected – Katie Pezzutto
The Broken Beauty of the Table – Laura Puiras
Why is Mentorship Important? – Matthew Demitroff
Church is Like Mayonnaise – Matt McKendry
Losing It As I Get Older – Mike Gordon
How to Make Good Friends (and Be One Too) – Morgan Clark
The Problem with Gifted Leadership – Robbie Down
Losing My Religion – Sarah Evangeline
When Conflict Strikes – Sarah Rhodes
How To Plant a Church – Shawn LaVie