At a medical school graduation, the emcee said, “No one graduating today could have survived medical school without family and friends.” That’s even more true in pastoral work. In ministry, as the writer of Ecclesiastes says, “If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”
But how do we find relationships that feed the soul, provide strength in weakness, and lovingly confront when necessary? One pastor confessed recently, “I often feel as if I am pastor to everyone and friend to no one.” The articles in this section help you build friendships and develop healthy accountability.
FRIENDSHIP. In Friends to Die For (p. 22), Scotty Smith, Scott Roley, and Michael Card talk candidly about their friendship-and its by-product, accountability. Then Mike Yaconelli tells of his startling realization, I Don’t Have Any Friends (p. 41).
In Training with a Championship Coach (p. 54), Chuck Swindoll and pastor Bob Roberts, Jr., reflect on what a mentor gave them; Fred Smith lists seven questions to ask in looking for a mentor.
ACCOUNTABILITY. In a searchingly honest article,Why I Resist Accountability, psychiatrist Louis McBurney explores our natural resistance to forthright relationships (p. 34). He writes, “Fear of rejection often makes accountability scary.” Randy Alcorn addresses one such scary issue—sexual temptations—in Strategies to Keep from Falling (p. 46).
Finally, in Four Ways I’ve Found Encouragement (p. 43), Presbyterian pastor Heidi Husted shares what has kept her from burning out.
1996 by Christianity Today/LEADERSHIP journal
Last Updated: September 17, 1996
