Different

“I am a rock,
I am an island.
I’ve built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty.
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship;
Friendship causes pain.
It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.” —Simon & Garfunkel, I am a Rock

“Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there’s always tomorrow
Lean on me
When you’re not strong
And I’ll be your friend
I’ll help you carry on…
For it won’t be long
Till I’m gonna need somebody to lean on.” —Bill Withers, Lean on Me

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” —Jesus, Matthew 7.13-14

If you want what

people have, then do what normal people

Reveal Answer

. But if you want what

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people have, then do what few people

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.

Relationships

Rugged Individualism: a term that indicates that an individual is self-reliant and independent from outside (usually government or some other form of collective) assistance or support.

John Wayne:

Grove of Redword Trees

“Loneliness is the leprosy of the modern world.” —Mother Teresa

is not the same thing as

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.

“We are lonely but fearful of intimacy. Digital connections…may offer the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship. Our networked life allows us to hide from each other, even as we are tethered to each other. We would rather text than talk…When technology engineers intimacy, relationships can be reduced to mere connections. And then, easy connection becomes redefined as intimacy. Put otherwise, cyberintimacies slide into cybersolitudes.” —Sherry Turkle, Alone Together

Normal people

for community, but they also want to keep their

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.

“Our greatest wounds come from relationships, but so does our deepest healing.” —John Mark Comer

Core Characteristics of Relationships That are Different

Depth
Vulnerability
Commitment to Transformation

“We can’t live without sin, but we can live without secrets.” —Tyler Staton

“There is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization, or society: the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen––to accurately know another person, to let them feel valued, heard, and understood. That is at the heart of being a good person, the ultimate gift you can give to others and to yourself.” —David Brooks, How to Know a Person

If you truly want to be

, then practice

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.

Life Groups

The Way Life Groups

Truth: You and I

in

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.

“We generally sin alone, but we heal together.” —John Ortberg

“I get drunk, WE stay sober.” —A.A. (Alcoholics Anonymous)

You

follow Jesus alone.

Your relationship with Jesus must always be

, but it can also never be

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.

No one can have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother.” —St. Cyprian of Carthage

“You can’t be married to Jesus and merely date the Church.” —Jimmy Cooper of Wentzville

“Long-term interpersonal relationships are the crucible of genuine progress in the Christian life. People who stay also grow. People who leave do not grow. We all know people who are consumed with spiritual wanderlust. But we never get to know them very well because they cannot seem to stay put. They move along from church to church, ever searching for a congregation that will better satisfy their felt needs. Like trees repeatedly transplanted from soil to soil, these spiritual nomads fail to put down roots and seldom experience lasting and fruitful growth in their Christian lives.” —Joseph H. Hellerman, When The Church Was a Family

Interconnected Roots