By Dr. Tim Smith, Director of Adult Ministries
When my son was in kindergarten, his favorite show, like so many his age, was Buzz Lightyear. I remember when we took him to Disney World, the one ride he wanted to get to first was Buzz Lightyear. I don’t know if we ever left. We rode that ride again, and again, and again, comparing our scores and enjoyed every second of it. As we head into a New Year, there is one quote from Buzz that sticks with me: “Woody once risked his life to save mine, and I couldn’t call myself his friend if I wasn’t willing to do the same.” Now that’s a true friend.
We are all made in the image of God, and we are made for community. Rick Warren in his book, The Purpose Driven Life writes: “God wired us to need each other and to learn from each other so that we become the man or woman God created us to be.” That can be challenging in a society that so glorifies and celebrates individualism. Let me put it this way: you are wired for brotherhood the way lungs are wired for air. This is why isolation wounds us so deeply, and why COVID was so difficult for many people. It’s not just loneliness—it goes against the grain of what God intends for us. A man cut off from community is a man cut off from the image he bears. A man may survive, for a while at least, in isolation, but he cannot grow there.
A God-shaped hunger demands a God-shaped response, living into the desires and the truth of how we were created to live: in community. Here’s the truth every man knows, whether he can articulate it or not, we are never more like God than when we are experiencing real, embodied, inconvenient, shoulder-to-shoulder community. When men share life together—when we carry weight, forgive wounds, speak courage, lock arms, and challenge each other to be more, something divine happens. God made us in His image. He made us for fellowship. Brotherhood is not optional. It is ontological.
I don’t have to tell you that a man needs a friend(s). You feel that ache before you have words for it. I don’t have to convince you that you need brothers for the journey. It’s the image of God in you, which is why, when we can’t find brotherhood in the physical, many often turn to the online community or now even the simulated with AI, which only provide faint semblances of real community.
This New Year, make an intentional choice for community. Get offline and instead get face-to-face with other brothers. We have men’s groups that meet Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursday and Saturdays. You’ll see them listed on this newsletter. Create the time by making it a priority. Perhaps in the past you’ve considered getting involved with one of the mens’ groups at Saint Michael, but for some reason haven’t made the first step. Is today the day? Choose a group or time that is interesting to you that can fit into your schedule and make a commitment by reaching out to the leader and letting them know you’re going to attend. If you need help choosing a group, reach out and I’ll be happy to lend a hand.
Second, get shoulder-to-shoulder with other men. Guys often connect when they’re serving together. Shared labor builds friends. Men often bond when working together solving a problem or making a difference in the lives of others. Join us by serving at the Shrove Tuesday Dinner on February 17. And then on April 11 we will serve together at our Saint Michael Day of Service.
So this year, don’t wait another minute. Invest in your God-given image and get in community.
The Seekers men’s group formed a human chain on Wednesday, Dec. 3 to move 600 donated children’s winter coats from the Formation Office to a waiting Saint Phillip’s bus. The coats were distributed to needy families on December 20 at St. Phillip’s Christmas Store.
