Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:12)

Monday evening, sitting at my desk to prepare for this morning’s Bible study with the guys, I did my usual routine of reading the relevant chapter from our book (we’re using 10 Life-Charged Words), and then searching for a couple of current illustrations. And by current I mean this week.

The answer I came up with made today’s lesson extremely simple.

First, we all shared joys and prayer concerns. These are not surface level but real, deep, and honest. The guys are willing to show vulnerability, express need, own their pain, and share heartfelt joy.

We talked a little longer than usual, and then the time of prayer was more interactive. We felt touched by God’s spirit in and through one another’s presence, and expressed needs, and honest prayers.

We were practicing community. We were doing community. And “Community” was the title of the chapter and the focus of our conversation.

Stronger in Community:

We talked about what it means to be “strong.” And we talked about what weakness is too. We live in a culture where there is still such a deep misunderstanding about strength and weakness. Men especially fall prey to the lie that individualism is strength and that keeping our feelings to ourselves is strength; also, that compromise, collaboration, and demonstrating vulnerability are signs of weakness.

The truth is that posturing, bullying, boasting, denying our mistakes, putting others down, and trying to dominate are not signs of strength but key indicators of weakness, of fear, of uncertainty and of faithlessness.

So I shared the story of my golf outing Monday at the Wake Forest Presbyterian Church mission fund-raiser. Rebekah and I sponsored a hole and I took my friend Chauncey over to play.

Our foursome, including Louis Engel and his friend Marc, was a classic example of my other favorite scripture about men in community, the Exodus story where Aaron and Hur stand on either side of Moses and help him hold his arms up….

 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. (Exodus 17:10-13)

When I made a bad shot Chauncey bailed me out. When Marc missed his putt, I dropped it in. When Chauncey flubbed one, Louis came through. When we all messed up… well, that only happened once in 18 holes.

Four guys, all with potential but all deeply flawed and dreadfully inconsistent, somehow posting a 59! Individually – and I’m being generous here – it was the kind of day where there’s a good chance we all would have shot in the 90’s!

Public Health Crisis of Isolation:

I can’t help but think about what I consider to be the primary public health problem of today; I’m talking about social isolation. Men, the studies show, are increasingly not in deep relationships where they can be honest, vulnerable, encouraged, nurtured, challenged, held accountable and loved. Younger men, in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s, even more so.

Here at church we are blessed with the opportunity to hold one-another’s arms up. As men, we need this if we are to fully embrace the human experience and if we are to grow.

However – and this is a key point for understanding what it means to be a disciple – community at this level is something we must share. Why not invite other men into this experience of life-charged community? Why not reach out… in order to hold up a few more arms?

It’s not like any one of us has a prayer of shooting 59 on our own – DEREK