Friendship and Fellowship

GCD Newsletter – Monday, November 14, 2022

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

English Standard Version, John 13:34–35

I’ve always found friendship hard to cultivate, but of late it seems like the subject and its fruits have been a constant companion to me. Over the past couple of years—and in the last six months in particular—I’ve made some of the closest friends I’ve ever known. As a child I used to write secret messages to myself in invisible ink which would glow up under certain torches, or by candlelight, these friendships have had a similar effect on my reading and my watching of films and shows, in that their light has highlighted passages and themes I never would have settled on before.

Two forays into the world of Middle-Earth have been particularly striking to me, firstly through “the Rings of Power,” Durin and Elrond’s kinship brought me to joyful tears on a number of occasions, but listening to Andy Serkis’s new rendition of the Lord of the Rings, I was bowled over by the intimacy the Fellowship enjoyed throughout the books. In the films, this is hinted at, but the interweaving of souls runs through the hearts of every member of Fellowship in the books. At one point, in the realm of Loth Lorien, Aragorn invites Frodo to join him and opens his heart up to him, taking time away from communicating with his love, Arwen, and makes himself vulnerable:

“‘Here is the heart of Elvendom on earth,’ he said, ‘and here my heart dwells ever, unless there be a light beyond the dark roads that we still must tread, you and I. Come with me!’ And taking Frodo’s hand in his, he left the hill of Cerin Amroth and came there never again as a living man.”

The Fellowship of the Ring, Tolkien

This knitting together of hearts should not be a foreign concept to us as Christians, the Church should be a place in which the effects of relational intimacy and vulnerability should be evident to all. We don’t always get this right, and not every friendship will look the same, but what is sure is that what the world offers us in its place is worse than a counterfeit.

We are to “love one another: just as [we have been loved by Jesus, we] also are to love one another. By this all people will know that [we are his] disciples, if [we] have love for one another.” Three times Jesus repeats himself, love one another, love one another, have love for one another. In this week’s articles, we look at the gift of the Church, and the necessity of our weakness in showing strength.

How will you love others this week? How will you love your brothers? How will you love your sisters? Who has reached out to you and who will you reach out to?

Grace and Peace,

Adsum Try Ravenhill is married to Anna and together they are passionate about seeing young men and women discipled within the context of the local church. You can find Adsum through his writing at The Raven’s Writing Desk and alongside Anna as the co-host of the Consider the Ravens Podcast, you can also find Adsum’s articles for GCD here.

Articles of the Week

The Gift of The Church
Jared Wilson

“The church is a very peculiar community, isn’t it? As with our blood family, we don’t really get to choose who’s in and who’s out. But unlike all of our blood family, we’ll have to live with our brothers and sisters in the faith for all eternity!

We should probably start figuring out how to do that now.”

Gospel Strength
Myra Dempsey

“Christ followers not only develop strength differently, but we also display strength differently to the world around us. We must reject the notion that strength is best displayed by hiding our weaknesses. The apostle Paul pushed all his chips in on the truth that God’s power is made perfect in weakness. God told him that was his design, and Paul had learned the beauty of obeying God’s voice.”

Question of the Week

In your opinion, what’s the best literary friendship you’ve ever read about and what did you learn from it? Comment below!

Here at GCD, we run a small social network catered to Christian writers. As a writer myself, I know that it can often feel like a thankless and solitary task, and it sometimes leads me to believe the lie I must be the only one experiencing that. If you’re a writer and you feel like that too, the GCD Writer’s Guild is for you. We provide regular writing prompts, we help each other by providing critique, and we champion and cheer on the work of other writers in the Guild. We welcome writers of every level, from communicators who are just getting started to published authors. Our aim is to encourage and help each other in saying what is good, truthful, and beautiful and to create a culture that glorifies Christ. If you’d like to join, or you simply want to know more, click here for more details: