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The “Inside Out” podcast, from Family Life
Making friends at church can be hard, but it’s both important and possible, and we can grow in the process.
We want to find community at church, but it can be hard.
One of the challenges, according to writer and blogger Paige Pippin, is that many of us show up on Sundays already exhausted. “Getting to church can feel weirdly taxing at times,” she says. “And maybe it’s our personality–maybe we’re more introverted. Maybe we’re in a very hectic season. Maybe we’re getting our gaggle of young children to church. Or, maybe it’s genuinely heavy or life-altering circumstances, like a sickness or disability. So we show up to church and we already feel tired.”
Pippin’s the author of The Gospel Coalition article Help! I Want to Make Friends at Church. Pippin says that in addition to feeling spent when we arrive, we often feel uncertain.
“How do I engage?” Pippin asks. “This feels risky and out of control. Perhaps I’m believing others don’t want to be approached, or maybe it’s too much work, or maybe I believe the lie that it just doesn’t really matter.”
Our reasons for hesitating may be heart-felt, but the opportunity in front of us is a great one. 
“We, as believers, are ambassadors of the Gospel, and we have this rich opportunity in front of us,” she says. “Accepting that means I have an opportunity to pray for my attitude–my openness–to others before I even enter the sanctuary. And maybe even to start leaving more margin in my coming and going on Sunday morning.”
Pippin encourages us not only to seek out friendships, but to seek them out with Christians who are different from us. We’ll likely grow deeper as disciples–and more amazed with God. “Our awe for Him should be expanding as we see Him work in people who think differently than us, or who have walked different roads than us. God is that big, and He’s that able.”
None of this is easy. But God supplies everything we need for His Church to be unified.
“We, as Christians, have a leg up on friendship, because of the Spirit in us,” she says. “This should give us great confidence in pursuing other Christians. Because we know that this is what the Lord has and so we know that it’s not up to us to muster this strength, or to manufacture chemistry. The Lord wants it. He will show us how.”
Join us for our 14-minute conversation by listening to the podcast.
You can also read Paige Pippin’s article “Help! I Want to Make Friends at Church”.
Paige Pippin is a Christian author, blogger. and stay-at-home mom.
Inside Out with Martha Manikas-Foster is one of the Wednesday news features on the air and online. Hear it during our Noon Report, 5 O’Clock Report, and our “Family Life News” podcast feeds.
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Mark Hancock, TrailLifeUSA.org
