Have you ever heard the phrase ‘phone a friend’? While it may have been made more widely known by a popular British TV quiz show, I’ve used it and heard it for many years before that. The meaning is fairly simple – when you get stuck, you contact someone who may know more.
We all need people we can talk to – either as some form of a sounding board (I have several people like this who are happy to listen to my Andy B thoughts spilling over) or as someone to whom we make ourselves accountable.
Accountability is hugely important, and a subject for another day: we can’t force people to be made accountable! But we should be allowing ourselves to be made accountable to other people. And it is super important never to exist in a bubble of our own thoughts and feelings. That’s just inviting big and painful trouble: a different perspective can see what we can not.
I was once told by a church minister that he would act like the father I never had. He didn’t ask. He just stated that was happening. But, I had no respect for him - for a wide number of reasons, not least the fact I didn’t know him and was happily married when he ‘gave’ his advice. Needless to say I ran a mile and didn’t look back!
We need to exercise wisdom when sharing personal facts and feelings: as Christians we should always be open about our lives with the people we meet, but it is also important to create and enforce righteous and appropriate boundaries too – Jesus did this all the time, and that’s worth paying attention to, very much!
Be wise and righteously cultivate a few friends you feel safe talking to and make yourself accountable to them. Wise counsel doesn’t come cheap, but it’s extremely precious!
And, remember, you never have to surrender personal information that you’re uncomfortable with sharing, especially with strangers and people we don’t yet know well. They might attend a church, or even wear a dog collar, but let’s share our lives appropriately, and carefully: dog collars can be faked, and church is full or broken people just like you and me.
Just a thought…
Andy B
Keep in Touch with the BerryBunch
www.berrybunch.org
Support Us Online
www.berrybunch.org/supportus
