Who do you know?

As men, we often find it hard to have another man in our lives who knows us well.  And I mean knows all about us--the good and the bad.  This is one area that I have not invested a lot of time in over the years.  Obviously, I share with my wife, fellow pastors, and others within leadership.  But what about someone else. As a pastor, it is nice to have someone outside of my church to share with openly and challenge me.

I don't like to use the word accountability because it tends to focus on trying harder or relying on self rather than being empowered by the Holy Spirit.  A great book on this topic is Gospel Centered Discipleship by Jonathan Dodson. He has a great section about what he calls "fight clubs." You can view posts about the book here & here.

I have been meeting for several weeks now with a guy who is helping me in this area.  I share openly about how I am doing spiritually, specifics about marriage & parenting, what is going on in the church, the joys & struggles, etc. I have been amazed at some of the topics we have discussed over the short time we have been meeting.  I would encourage every man to have someone like this in their lives and also to pick up Dodson's book and read it.