Lost Friendships

Over the course of the past few days, I've been thinking about who I've been friendly with over the years but am no longer friends with...particularly among people with whom I shared ministry in the past.

I started thinking about those broken relationships after receiving a very gracious note from someone who has been prominent in the CGGC who, in the note, regretted our lost friendship

Then, just the other day, I received an email from someone in the Conference which asked if Pastor ____________ and I are still friends, to which I replied, "No. Not even close. Sad."

As readers here know, I make truth a priority.

I've been in ministry for more than 40 years and, for years, subjugated my, I believe, God-given, obsession with truth in order to just get along in my denominational body...

...only to see that body decay at an increasing rate...

...and to feel my own godly sorrow increase to the point that it became impossible to bear.

And, so, I became, as the G. C. E. D. sometimes phrases it, a person of the Book, without reservation.

And, in only a few years, considering my advanced age, I've lost most of the denominational relationships I've had.

Taking the friendships I lost over my passionate opposition to the ERC's 2015 Strategic Plan as an example, I was of course, right about the Strategic Plan. Yet, no one has come to me apologizing for their role in our lost friendship, asking to renew the fellowship.

I take no pleasure in being accurate about the coming failures of the CGGC's programs and strategies. I felt the pain over the failure of the 2015 Strategic Plan even before the rest of the Conference voted to unanimously approve it.

And, I don't resent my former friends for disagreeing with me.

From the moment I took my first steps as a prophet, I understood how lonely the journey would, most likely, be.

And, on the other hand, people have come to me approving of my walk and even thanking me for it.

But, the truth is, very few church people and I are friends these days.

And, while I have no qualms about my intense focus on truth, there are times that I wish I had a larger universe of people to pal around with.