Friendship

Many people lack a clear understanding of the levels of friendship, which involve specific freedoms and responsibilities, depending on the closeness of the relationship. The four levels of friendship are (1) acquaintance, (2) casual friendship, (3) close friendship (fellowship), and (4) intimate friendship.

1. Acquaintance
   1. This level of friendship is characterized by occasional contacts. Regard each introduction to a new acquaintance as a divine appointment. Learn and remember his name and greet him by name during your next encounter.
   2. Be prepared to ask him general questions that will provide “public” information. For example, you might ask a person, “Where do you work?” or “Where do you go to school?” Your questions will demonstrate your acceptance and sincere interest in him.
   3. Questions can be like arrows in a hunter’s hands: Take a question out of your “quiver” and guide it to its destination. If you miss the target, that is, if your question does not help you get to know the person better, take another question out of your quiver and try again. When you are prepared to ask good questions, you are free to concentrate on what the other person says and then use additional questions to maintain the conversation. Be a good listener as your new acquaintance responds to your questions.
2. Casual Friendship
   1. A casual friendship can develop quickly, even during your initial contact with an individual. As you discover common interests, activities, and concerns, you may be given freedom to ask more personal questions. For example, you could ask questions about his goals, wishes, or opinions.
   2. As your casual friendship develops, it is important to discover your friend’s strengths and praise him for positive character traits that you observe. A good friendship will build Godly character in both your lives. Be honest about yourself and acknowledge your own weaknesses when appropriate.
   3. Be a trustworthy friend. Learn about his hopes and goals in life; show interest and sincere concern if he shares problems with you. Pray for him.
3. Close Friendship (Fellowship)
   1. A casual friendship involves oneness of the soul (the mind, will, and emotions), but a close friendship—fellowship—reflects oneness of spirit. We can have many acquaintances and casual friendships with both believers and non-believers. However, true fellowship requires that both persons share the same life goals.
   2. The Lord instructs us to “consider [observe fully] one another to provoke [incite] unto love and to good works” (Hebrews 10:24). This third level of friendship carries with it the responsibility to picture true achievement for one another, exhorting “one another daily . . . lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13). Discuss specific goals in your lives; identify potential hindrances to achieving those goals; creatively design projects to help you reach your goals.
   3. Fellowship is “walking in the Light.” “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. . . . If we walk in the light, as he [Christ] is in the light, we have fellowship one with another . . .” (I John 1:5, 7). Your fellowship should include investments in projects that will equip you to achieve your life goals.
4. Intimate Friendship
   1. The fourth, and deepest, level of friendship should be based on a commitment to generously invest in one another’s lives with the goal of helping each other mature in Godly character. Honesty, humility, and discretion are requirements of an intimate friendship. Comfort one another through trials and sorrows; pray diligently for one another.
   2. At this level, friends have freedom to correct one another and point out each other’s blind spots. Don’t simply point out character deficiencies; discern their causes and suggest solutions. Search the Scriptures for keys to solutions, and be a faithful, loyal friend as you encourage one another to pursue spiritual maturity.

Source: Institute in Basic Life Principles

Developing Friendships

One of the biggest challenges of growing up in a missionary family that moved often was learning how to develop new and deeper friendships. As an adult with a family, we continued to move several times, and as my children grew to be adults they often had to move and develop new friendships. Some principles of developing friendships have included;

- Church is the foundation of finding a fit into a new community. The first challenge was finding a church that was local, had a passion for the community, and that was sound in it's doctrine of seeking the Kingdom of God.

- Once you identify a church community that you feel you can be a contributing member with, then the next best steps are to volunteer for a ministry that supports your gift so that you can serve with others and get to know them, and/or evaluate some some small groups of to deepen your connections from acquaintances to casual friendships. In this regard, I have found that if you join in with groups that have been established for a long time over a few years, it is very hard to build closer relationships since they often already have the relationships they need. If possible it is best to join in with groups that are newly forming as others are much more open to connecting.

- And then as you develop acquaintances and identify those who have similar interests, similar ages of children, similar ministry passions, those are often good foundations for deeper relationships since you can support each other in accomplishing your goals in those areas. But growing friendships requires very intentional steps as follows;

- Ask questions to identify the interests, lifestyle and passions of others. As they mention things coming up in the coming week that are interesting to them, that are a challenge, that need prayer, note them.

- Pray for a couple of people who are potential friends, and then after a few days follow up with them on how those things are progressing, how they are doing, or a word of encouragement. This may be face to face if you see them in an activity, phone call or messaging. Follow up shows that you both listened to them, and you care about the outcomes. Being acknowledged by others makes people feel significant, and is a primary step to friendships.

- As you build casual friendships, find volunteer opportunities, events or other types of activities that allow you to spend more time with them. Shared efforts and struggles are key to moving from casual friendships to close friendships.