Friends don’t let Friends go to Hell

(Posted from Baltimore)

So the Giants won. I watched half the game in the airport and then the pilot announced the final score. One guy clapped. We weren’t sure who among us was for our team.

Everybody chooses sides. Pats or Giants? Obama or Clinton? Mitt or John? These become our tribes, our friends; clusters of people who think "right".

Anymore, faith doesn’t start with  what you believe, it starts with who you hang with. As Ricardo explained to me, "you belong before you believe." I suppose it was always "kinda" like that, we used to talk about peer pressure.

That’s how it worked with the apostles; it was about walking with Jesus before it was about their creed.

Friends. How do you do right by them? Silence about the big stuff doesn’t seem that loving, does it? How can I be a true friend but never tell them? What kind of a friend am I if I bite my tongue and persist on superficial levels: On talking about the Giants when Hell looms on the horizon.

It’s all about learning one or two segues: One or two sentences that you have ready to help your friendship be a real friendship.
Memorize them, keep them in your pocket.

Here’s one: "do you think the Patriots’ defense will burn in Hell?" No, that’s not very good, is it? Give me another chance.

How about: "Do you think we’re helping each other with the important stuff of life?" Or, "How are you doing with God?" Or, "Maybe we’re leaving out some spiritual resources that could help us." For those of us who are memory-challenged, "What about God?"

Friends don’t let friends go to Hell without throwing ourselves in their path. And we, sometimes desperately, sometimes patiently, move the conversation to higher ground.
David Roller

Sent from my BlackBerry®