THE LOST ART OF RELATIONSHIP
God we can experience now. His perseverance in life and through death brought about the awe-inspiring reward of an eternal relationship with him—offering us and everyone a hope that we could not possess otherwise.
Steve’s consistency and perseverance in my life offered me hope to make it through the difficulty, and I did. My friendship with him became that much stronger because of it, and now the reward of relationships with others through what I learned is far greater.
Honoring Friendship
The word honor has lost its influence in today’s world. To honor (v) is “to regard with great respect.”^5 Honor (n) is “a keen sense of ethical conduct.”^6 Honor is others-focused.
If someone honors friendship in this sense, they are placing the friend relationship in high regard and strive to be aware of their conduct around others. This takes practice and discipline. Mainly, it means that we tame the fire of the tongue and our urge to say things that can be damaging to others.
Honoring friendship is building others up, verbally, emotionally, and relationally. It also means when you talk about your friend to someone else, you hold confidences, never slander them, and speak well of them.
Steve taught me this through the most unlikely way. We were in a conver- sation (as we try to do every three to six months). He was overseeing church planting in the southern California district of the Assemblies of God and held workshops and seminars to assist those who were in the process of starting a church.
I was looking for resources I could add to my arsenal so I could consult with pastors in Northern California. It was in this conversation that Steve said in passing, “I use you as an example when teaching these pastors about church planting,” which I mentioned earlier. This simple comment he made to me accomplished several things.
First, I was more than affirmed and encouraged after many years of being removed from the church re-plant in Los Angeles. Just the fact that he consid- ered my story to encourage and teach other pastors honored our friendship. Expressing that to me meant more to me then he will ever know.
Second, when we develop friend relationships with others, we seek the best in them and learn from it. As it says in 1 Peter 4:8, “love covers a multitude of sins,” and in 1 Corinthians 13:5, “it does not keep a record of wrongs.” Honoring friendship means that we work through the wrongs the other person