As I've been engaging with the Forge content I've been inspired to be more engaged in organic relationships with the folks God has placed in my life. Recently I realized I was growing in relationship with a friend to whom I've felt called over the last few years. Feeling as though I was following God’s lead, I reached out to him to talk more about his faith journey -- he was involved in ministry in the past, but has since taken a step back from active Christian faith.
After I had prompted him to talk about where he was with God, I asked about getting together again. He said, "I don't want this to be about me." That caught me off-guard. I realized that I had been interacting with him without bringing myself into the equation. I was more focused on trying to get him to make some faith move or progress in some sort of growth I had outlined in my head than I was in simply being a good friend to him.
The next time we hung out was at our local brewery. As I was driving to meet him, I was thinking about how to hang out without making it about his journey. I realized that it had been a long time since I had hung out with someone without an agenda. I realized I had maybe forgotten (or never learned?!) how just to be friends with someone. I had forgotten how to be with people just to enjoy them. We had a great time that night, and that revelation has shifted how I approach the people that God brings into my life.
Since then I've developed a few new relationships with neighbors, and I feel free not to identify an objective for them or for our relationship, but just to know them so that I can enjoy who they are. I'm finding I enjoy their quirks more, I see the good in them more quickly, and I feel as though I'm better positioned to be a picture of the Gospel in their lives.