The Hard Work of Lifelong Friendships | TGC Podcast

Christine Hoover delivered a message to the 2021 TGC Women’s Conference titled “Messy Beautiful Friendship: Learning to Love Others in a Christlike Way.” Speaking from her own experiences building friendships first as a child and then as an adult, Hoover discussed the “wish-dream,” as she calls it-the idealized version of perfect friendship that many women embrace. She compared it to the reality of mature, biblical friendship that, despite all its flaws and blemishes, is an absolute gift from God.
She looked at four components of biblical friendships, exemplified, by Christ that women should pursue in order to build them for themselves:
-Focus on giving (serving) and befriending others
-Erase unnecessary restrictions
-Devote yourself to people
-Be vulnerable with one another

[@jackiebendolph3754]

I texted my family last night about this very thing “my idea of community”! The Lord corrects my idea to be His plan. What a gracious LORD!!!

[@jeffro202]

This is absolutely golden Biblical wisdom being applied into life re relationships \ friendships. As a mature aged male reforming new friendships I think this is not just for women, maybe even more so for men. Thank you.

[@annek5180]

Thank you for this. It really helped me. I was struggling and asking questions about relationships and friendship in church. Thanks a lot.

[@thegospelcoalition]

Hi Anne, we're so glad this resource helped you! If you need further resources on friendship, there's a category on our site just for that. www.thegospelcoalition.org/topics/friendship/

[@pippa212]

This is so timely for me. From my experience so far, men do a much better job in the church of reaching out and discipling other men than women. I’m new to the faith and other than the cursory “nice to meet you”, I feel terribly abandoned. But maybe I have an idealized view of what this should look like.

[@johntobey1558]

When you marry a minister you have the privilege of being at the center of a family of faith. Imagine the struggle that people whose husband's are not in leadership have.

[@antoinettewilliams6862]

Simply Biblical and practical.

[@johntobey1558]

Dietrich Bonhoffer's ecclisiology is somewhat distorted here about fellowship. Our visionary ideal should not be focused in the idolatry of our: phenomenology, secular humanism, and "wish dream" narcissism and solipscism.

[@joshuabrooke9762]

1 Timothy 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor usurp authority over a man, but to be in silence. 1 Corinthians 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the church for it is it permitted unto them to speak; but are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. I know this truth is not popular in our culture, but it’s there in the Bible in several places for women not to preach. We believe the whole Bible as the word of God, not just parts the parts that fit our time and culture.

[@brittanymendoza-pena8895]

There is something to be said about the context that this is happening in. This could easily be a case of her speaking at a women’s conference, and then the talk being published on KZbin as a continued resource for the public. Thank you for sharing those verses and I hope God gives you peace about whatever missing context this video did not offer🙏🏽❤️

[@pippa212]

I don’t see this as preaching. She’s giving a talk on friendship through the lens of the Bible.

[@HearGodsWord]

Joshua, so you're against women giving talks at women's conferences? That's different to what Paul was referring to in 1 Tim.

[@joshuabrooke9762]

@@HearGodsWord I’m not against anyone. This is preaching however, and a gathering of God’s people is the church. I don’t see how it’s much different, so I simply mention the text to reflect why I say we should be careful of this. Otherwise we are saying, let’s move outside the church so a woman may teach. I don’t look to get the Word wrong and am careful of what I say because I fear God, that he might be displease with me. So if there is truly something I am missing, please tell me with the Word and not of opinion so I might better understand.

[@kirstymca]

This is a women's conference, though. And women are supposed to teach other women.