I've waited rather long to announce this, just to be sure that I'd see this train of thought through. As a result of some recent need that I see arising for a coherent understanding of the dynamics of relationships within Christian communities, I will be dwelling on a new and sustained series of theological reflections pertaining to Christian friendship.

In a church climate that is pragmatically programmatic in its ethos, I believe if we seek to recover what it means to be communities that are truly organic and missional in nature, that we must construct a foundational understanding of Christian friendship. Thus far, friendship has been by and large a by-product - a secondary result - of the local church's exercise of revolving people around planned programmes. The focus has been to run programmes (because that's what good and successful churches do! Besides, it looks good in the annual report!); and perhaps by some fortunate stroke, friendships develop among those who seek to sustain those programmes.

Those who cannot find within themselves a conscience or willingness that permits for participation in these programmes simply drop out and hop to the next church with the hope of finding a place for themselves within the scheme of churchlife. If not, they move on yet again. The sense of rootedness seems absent because "community" now simply represents a more spiritual term for "taskforce" or "workforce". Church now no longer seems to be defined so much by who we are, but rather, by what we do.

But what if we understood community as primarily about friendships? What if God's sole purpose for the formation of Christian communities was the cultivation of friendship for the sake of friendship itself, simply because God Himself consists of a community of beings relating with one another in intimate friendship? What if we were told that our lengthy and tedious theological discourse in the absence of intimate friendships was but a vain clanging cymbal or a resounding gong?

In the spirit of theology arising from relational transactions within my own faith community, I will attempt to provide a constructive (although not exhaustive) understanding of the kind of Christian friendship we so need to recover within our faith communities in order that church will once again, truly, be church; living stones of flesh and blood, not simply people who are trying their utter best to make church work.

I sincerely invite you to journey with me on this modest attempt to construct an understanding of Christian friendship.