One asks, why discuss, why relate, why have friendships? Two answers come to mind. As iron sharpens iron, it helps us to interact, we growth through interaction. But then the question comes, if we dwelt in perfection, we would have no need thereof, as a device for our sanctification. Yet, we would still desire friendship.
"And God created man" and prescribed that he spend some of his time working so as to eat and some of his time sleeping. When not engaged with these, God prescribed that man "be fruitful and multiply." But, when not working, eating, sleeping, making love, or caring for children, God prescribed that man enjoy creating music, reading books, playing tennis, and having conversations.
Perhaps it is one of greatest secrets of "love thy neighbor" that it is good not only as a command, not only as a means to one's perfection and the happiness that comes from virtue, but also for its own sake. The best and happiest activity of man is to love his neighbor, it is the primary diversion (in the Arisotelian sense) which God has prescribed for our boredom.
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am i allowed to think this is a little bit of a weird statement?
ok, so i meant to read this again before i saw you this afternoon, but i forgot. here's what i think is weird:
1) while sanctification is absolutely one of God's intentions for human relationships, and one of the chief uses He puts them to, i think that to look at relationships as means to an end is kinda awful, to be frank. while i absolutely believe that the goal of everything from eating to running fortune 100 companies ought to be done for the glory of God, i think that there is God-given value, not just in relationships, but in people.
2) to say that God gives us friends to keep us from being bored seems to ignore the fact that God made us to need relationships, with Him and with other people. we know all the stuff about God being a communion, and how we are to reflect that communion by being in communion with one another. what that boils down to is this: we cannot be like Christ alone. to be like Christ is to be involved intimately and deeply with others - with the Father, obviously, but with other folks too.
3) relationships are one of the fundamental ways God extends His kingdom in the world. He does this by sanctification, surely, but also by the use of combined strength. think about the many pairs (or more) of missionaries who headed out into the field to reap what God had sown (i'm particularly thinking of the beginning of the missionary era, with greats like George Mueller and Hudson Taylor). while the love and support we give to our brothers and sisters is sanctifying, and reflects God's character, it does not end there. relationships have more than ripple effects - they can change the world.
4) relationships are a means of grace. i don't mean this in the formal, sacramental sense, but in the sense that God provides people and uses people as His hands and feet, as His mouthpieces. this applies to sanctification, of course, and bringing friends to Christ, but also to encouragement, steadfastness, and faithfulness in friendship. it applies to the times emily calls me on stuff AND the times she bawls her eyes out to me.
5) i hope that while working, eating, making love, and caring for children, relationships are being developed. don't separate these things from community. (and if you talk in your sleep, it's like working overtime ;))
6) while i like what you say about "one of the greatest secrets" and all that, but the best and happiest activity of man is NOT to love his neighbor, but to glorify and enjoy his God. this is where the "ends" issue comes in i think, because it is in and through our work and our play, our thoughts and our actions, our relationships and our hearts that we are to glorify and enjoy Him.
that's what i have to say. :)
ps we need to make a point of hanging out more. we have half a semester left of being in the same freakin' state!
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