A Friend in Need

Before "play dates," Mister Rogers and Barney, boys often made friends the old-fashion way --they'd meet, have a disagreement, fight with each other, brush the dust off from their "discussion" and become fast friends. I know it may not be politically correct to report that sort of friendship building nowadays, but that's the way it happened. These friends were and still are friends for life.

A friend is the person one could "hang with," get in trouble with, depend on, and would know -- without having to be told -- what was the matter. Boys growing up need at least one good friend -- someone who will not find fault in the clothes his mother makes him wear, someone who will choose him first for a teammate, someone who will stand shoulder to shoulder against perceived injustice, and someone who has no qualms about sharing a hot dog and coke.

A growing boy needs a friend, and a grown man needs a friend, too. A man needs another man to hang with, depend on, share problems, help move furniture, or just plain listen. No body understands the issues a man faces like another man, especially when that issue involves fun, family, and faith.

Guys do understand fun -- sports, bars, hunting, fishing, working on cars and, in general, anything involving risk, speed, and technology. A friend is someone that shares the passion, shares the activity, and shares the fun.

Guys try to understand family. However, relationships with wives, mothers, in-laws, children, and all the variations of family - remain -- for the most part, a mystery to men. A man needs another man to help him talk through and suggest tactics for dealing with the family -- if for no other reason than to have someone to blame when things go wrong.

Guys struggle to understand faith, too. Believing in Someone bigger than oneself, giving up control, confessing weakness -- these are not easy things. A man needs another man to help him see the Jesus of the Scriptures -- the powerful, all mighty Savior who is a Friend to all. A friend is a man who can share the greatest Friend one will ever have -- Jesus -- no matter what the circumstances.