Rebecca McLaughlin takes the topic of friendship beyond warm and fuzzy feelings.
Friendship is under fire.
The Survey Center on American Life recently reported that nearly half of Americans have fewer than three close friends. Twelve percent have no friends at all. In the UK, where I live, one in three men have no close friends. Forty percent of 16-to-24-year-olds say they always or often feel lonely. Young people today, living in an era of social media and digital technology, are in one sense the most connected generation in history. So, why do they struggle with one of the most fundamental human relationships?
This is especially striking given all we know about the goodness of friendship. It has profoundly positive effects on our mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Studies consistently show that those who eat badly, lack exercise, and neglect other areas of physical health but have good friends live longer in comparison to those who are socially isolated and keep themselves in shape. And friendship is vital to a life of faith.
It is therefore surprising that there should be, relatively speaking, so few books on the subject. In my own searches online, I’ve discovered more than 10,000 books with leadership in the title and just a fraction with the word friendship. For many in the church, friendship is one of the most important but least talked about relationships.
Into this void comes Rebecca McLaughlin’s beautiful contribution, No Greater Love: A Biblical Vision for Friendship. Her subject matter is both timely and timeless, and I’m delighted she has invested her creative and theological energies into exploring it. This is not a book to make us feel warm and fuzzy about our friends, as it deliberately counts the cost of fellowship and community. But it should inspire us to raise …