Steve Fowler, July 17-18

One of the many good gifts and blessings God gives to us are friends. Through the years, Trina and I have had the privilege of experiencing life alongside some beautiful people. I almost hesitate to use the word beautiful to describe them, because we live in a culture infatuated with external looks. The beauty I am writing about is much more impressive than how someone looks or appears. It embodies heart and character. It’s the kind of beauty that’s discovered as you do life together. Some of the experiences with friends revolve around fun experiences. Other friendships are characterized by fun and a good measure of shared sorrow. The writer of Ecclesiastes says, “…pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” An isolated life is not only lonely, it is pitiful.

Every so often I have conversations with people who find themselves in desperate circumstances. One of the complaints I hear is that nobody cares. When I ask what their personal investment in community has been up to this point (Do you participate in a small group? Are you in a shepherding group?), the answer is most frequently, “No.” Doesn’t it seem illogical to think that community will rally to you when you haven’t participated in community or invested relationally in the lives of others? One of the blessings of friendship is the authenticity of love that it is characterized by.

I can’t be there for everyone, but there are some I am highly invested in. I’m their friend. They can count on me. I can count on them. In our self-reliant “do it yourself ” world, I want to encourage you to make room in your life for people. You’ll be the better for it as well as the people who get to see the beauty of who you are. If you aren’t part of a community group (shepherding group) or a small group, I want to strongly urge you to participate in community with others. This fall there will be plenty of opportunity to do so. G.K. Chesterton wrote, “The man who lives in a small community lives in a much larger world.” Enlarge your life.

Steve is Lead Pastor of Salem Alliance Church and was born in Hong Kong, China. He grew up in Asia and moved to the US to attend college. After 14 years in business, Steve followed a call to pastor. He has served churches in Washington and Hong Kong and has been in Salem since 2005. He is married to Trina, has four children and one son-in-law.