God made you for friendship. Friendship is one of the deepest pleasures of life. But in our busy, fast-paced, mobile world, we’ve lost this rich view of friendship and instead settled for shallow acquaintances based on little more than similar tastes or shared interests. Helping us recapture a vision of true friendship, pastor Drew Hunter explores God’s design for friendship and what it really looks like in practice―giving us practical advice to cultivate the kinds of true friendships that lead to true and life-giving joy. Includes discussion questions at the end of each chapter - Teaches how to wisely cultivate true friendships in an age of loneliness and isolation - Includes a biblical theology of friendship and a section on friendship with God - Includes discussion questions at the end of each chapter - Author has taught many retreats, lectures, and seminars on the topic of friendship “‘We talk about community but not friendship.’ Drew Hunter is right, and in Made for Friendship he fills the church’s gap with deep theological truths and helpful practical tools regarding friendship. I’m grateful for this resource!” ― Christine Hoover, author, Messy Beautiful Friendship and Searching for Spring “Drew Hunter will capture you with his compelling vision of friendship. Beautifully written, these pages are filled with fresh insight and practical wisdom. Reading this book will ignite your desire to be a better friend and to savor the joys of friendship.” ― Colin S. Smith, President, Open the Bible; Pastor Emeritus, The Orchard, Arlington Heights, Illinois “Many contemporary realities work against our attempts to establish and cultivate deep, lasting friendships. Add to that our sinful tendencies that lead us to isolate ourselves, and it’s no wonder many of us are lonely and, dare I say, friendless. In Made for Friendship , Drew Hunter reminds us of the basic human need for true friendships. And through historical, biblical, and practical wisdom, he equips us to pursue and foster the kinds of friendships that will half our sorrows and double our joys. I, for one, am thankful for this much-needed reminder!” ― Juan R. Sanchez, Senior Pastor, High Pointe Baptist Church, Austin, Texas; author, Seven Dangers Facing Your Church “Meaningful friendships may be one of the most overlooked areas of church health in our time. If we are going to make disciples, the task will bring with it richness of relationships. This book calls us to relational depth for the sake of our own souls, and for the sake of the gospel.” ― Matthew Boswell, hymn writer; Pastor, The Trails Church, Celina, Texas Drew Hunter (MA, Wheaton College) is the lead pastor at Zionsville Fellowship in Zionsville, Indiana. He is the author of God Is For Us: Romans 8 and the Assurance of God’s Unbreakable Love ; Made for Friendship ; and several volumes in the Knowing the Bible series. Drew and his wife, Christina, live in Zionsville, Indiana, and have four children. Ray Ortlund is the president of Renewal Ministries, the pastor to pastors at Immanuel Church in Nashville, and a canon theologian with the Anglican Church in North America. He is the author of several books, including Marriage and the Mystery of the Gospel ; The Death of Porn ; and the Preaching the Word commentaries on Isaiah and Proverbs. He is also a contributor to the ESV Study Bible . Ray and his wife, Jani, have been married for fifty years. Made for Friendship The Relationship That Halves Our Sorrows and Doubles Our Joys By Drew Hunter Good News Publishers Copyright © 2018 Drew Hunter All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4335-5819-1 Contents Foreword by Ray Ortlund Jr., Introduction, PART 1: THE NECESSITY OF FRIENDSHIP, 1 Forgotten Friendship, 2 The Edenic Ache, PART 2: THE GIFT OF FRIENDSHIP, 3 The Greatest of Worldly Goods, 4 A Friend Who Is as Your Own Soul, 5 Cultivating Friendship, PART 3: THE REDEMPTION OF FRIENDSHIP, 6 A Biblical Theology of Friendship, 7 The Great Friend, Acknowledgments, Further Reading, Notes, General Index, CHAPTER 1 Forgotten Friendship To the Ancients, Friendship seemed the happiest and most fully human of all loves; the crown of life and the school of virtue. The modern world, in comparison, ignores it. C. S. Lewis If we remove friendship from the world, half of our joy goes right out with it. This is because friendship is the ultimate end of our existence and our highest source of happiness. Friendship — with one another and with God — is the supreme pleasure of life, both now and forever, and no one can fully enjoy life without it. Am I overstating things here? If you think so, you'll have to take it up with someone else. I can't claim much originality for that paragraph. It is essentially derivative. It paraphrases perspectives shared by diverse thinkers through the centuries, from ancient philosophers to great theologians and from modern atheists to devoted Christians. All of these agree: frie