At the risk of sounding too desperate, I have found myself wondering why it is so hard to find Christian friends in general and preacher friends specifically. I have made friendships over the years that burned with inferno intensity in the beginning only to watch it die out like awful ash. Not that we had any major disagreements or disputed the accuracy of God's word, but we just somehow drifted apart. I was somewhat of a recluse during parts of my childhood and I determined that in my adult life I would have many friends. When I started preaching, I vowed that I would have just a few close friends and maybe a good number of casual friends, but much to my chagrin, it has been difficult to receive either. As previously mentioned, we started out like we were going to break some friendship records, only to end out not finishing the race at all. Unfortunately for me, everyone is not so quick to gravitate to you if you are from something different than they are. I have found this to be especially true in churches where many of the people grew up together in local churches, districts, and conventions. Many times they are more comfortable dealing with those whom they have dealt with for a long period of time and not so quick to become acclimated to someone outside of the circle. Herein lies my problem because most of the time I am not a part of the long established crowd. I often get a "Man you sure can preach" or a "Doc, we didn't know you could do it like that" but I have yet to receive a remark that says you are now endeared to us; Let's just share with each other every so often. I'm not talking about a trading preaching dates type of friendship, but rather a friendship where I can come and cry on your shoulder because I didn't get the church or my child is acting unseemly and you don't belittle me. Exchanging preaching engagements is a natural part of preaching, but I want friends that I can just contact and say let's go to lunch and have a good time. Lord knows I need friends!
