Authentic Friendships

As I walked into my rotation this morning (kind of dreading the day) I received an email from a very close friend. Don't get me wrong I truly love my preceptor and rotation right now but I have been dreading the day I had to step foot into the adult ICU since my first year of pharmacy school. I honestly couldn't figure out for the longest time why it bothered me so much. The smallest, tiniest babies in the NICU didn't bother me at all but when it came to the big people it just got under my skin. I finally narrowed it down in prayer one night. I have a very hard time because I am not totally sure that all the adults have salvation whereas the babies I know for sure are going on to be with Jesus if it is their time to go.

So when I got this email this morning I was racing through my mind with negative thoughts. And then I was reminded how blessed I am with great friendship and even on days when I doubt my ability to face my fears & push through them I have people behind me praying for me that love me! Authentic Friends are so very important. Rick Warren does a good job of explaining this below. I hope you are encouraged.

Authentic Friendships
by Rick Warren

But if we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other. Then the blood of Jesus, God's Son, cleanses us from every sin. If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:7-8 NCV)

In Christian fellowship people should experience authenticity.

Authentic fellowship is not superficial, surface-level chit-chat. It’s genuine, heart-to-heart, sometimes gut-level, sharing.

It happens when people get honest about who they are and what is happening in their lives. They share their hurts, reveal their feelings, confess their failures, disclose their doubts, admit their fears, acknowledge their weaknesses, and ask for help and prayer.

Authenticity is the exact opposite of what you find in many churches. Instead of an atmosphere of honesty and humility, there is pretending, role-playing, politicking and superficial politeness, but shallow conversation.

People wear masks, keep their guards up, and act as if everything is rosy in their lives. These attitudes are the death of real friendship.

It’s only as we become open about our lives that we experience authentic fellowship. The Bible says, “If we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other.… If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves” (1 John 1:7–8, NCV).

The world thinks intimacy occurs in the dark, but God says it happens in the light. We tend to use darkness to hide our hurts, faults, fears, failures and flaws. But in the light, we bring them all out into the open and admit who we really are.

Of course, being authentic requires both courage and humility. It means facing our fear of exposure, rejection and being hurt again.

Why would anyone take such a risk?

Because it’s the only way to grow spiritually and be emotionally healthy. The Bible says, “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed” ( James 5:16a, Msg).