Title: Rewards of Tight Buds
Rewards of Tight Buds Bill has an agreeable personality with the other guys at his church, but when it comes to conversation, his talk is mostly about work and sports. He feels really disconnected from the other men and with his family. He’s basically just trudging through life, all alone, dragging his emotional baggage behind him, That’s what I call the Rambo myth. But you know, we’re not made for solo journeys of faith. We’re made for soulful bonds with other men. Yes, we’re also made to accomplish and to achieve goals, but just as much, God wired us for soulful relationships. “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up. Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. An accord of three strands is not easily broken.” (Ecl 4: 9-12) Other men face the same problems as you and I do. It’s a great relief to work through them together instead of trudging along like a one man army. The solo mode is destroying many Christian men that I personally know - some leaving their wives for other women. Some addicted to drugs, porn, and anger strongholds. God didn’t mean for us to be Rambos. So, take a risk and begin to open up to another man. Ask God to bring that man across your path. You’ll feel the weight of being disconnected and isolated lift off you, and you can breathe more easily as you win the race that God has given you to run. Let’s get past superficial relationships to discover God’s deeper meaning for our lives through a tight bud or two. Cultivating a close friend takes much work, but the power derived from this bond is well worth the work and vulnerability. Gary Chester hosts MenWhoWin.com podcasts and radio shows. He is the author/narrator of audio books and a small group Bible study. Rewards of Tight Buds Radio #1 At church Bill talked with the other guys about sports and work. He likes them - they like him, but they are all superficial relationships. Deep down Bill feels disconnected from these other men and from even his family. He’s playing Rambo. But we’re not made to be Rambos. We’re made for soul-knitting spirit-expanding bonds with other men - instead of trudging along like a one man army. Rewards of Tight Buds Radio #2 This past year, two descent upright church going men that I know left their wives for other women. People in their churches were stunned. How could these guys get so off track? The reason is that their relationships at their church were very superficial. They were not deeply connected or immersed in the faith journey with others so that others knew about any internal struggles they were dealing with. That’s not the community faith experience that the Bible teaches. God knows that after we begin to open up with others and really get to know each other and become concerned about one another, we’ll feel the weight lift off us and we’ll breathe easier as we stay on track and stay with our spouses. Rewards of Tight Buds Proverbs says, “You may have many acquaintances, Ecclesiastes says, “Two men are better than one. When one takes a spill, the other pulls him up.” In life we can find ourselves down and completely off the road. The faster tour pace, the more superficial our lives tend to be. One thing you can rest assured of is that if Christ is being formed more at the center of your heart, he is eventually going to get your attention about superficial relationships. He wants us interactive and emersed in one another’s lives in a real nitty gritty way. This is real Biblical Christianity not superficial Sunday school or cell groups. These kinds of relationships are what transform us into passionate people who live and love like Christ. It takes vulnerability on our part. We’ll talk about that soon. Rewards of Tight Buds Radio #5 We’re talking about developing a tight bud or two in order to discover deeper meaning in our Christian walk. In our church we tend to have only superficial relationships. This in not Biblical Christianity. Being deeply interactive with a few others is the way to overcome the demons in our lives that hinder being all we can be in Christ. But to start cultivating those tight bonds, requires being vulnerable to someone. That requires building intimacy and trust. Like a checking account, before you make a withdrawal, you have to make a deposit - a deposit of vulnerability. It takes work, but the power from such a soul knitting bond is very well worth it.