Introduction to Leonard Sweet's 11

Who is in your circle?
It seems like every cell phone carrier right now has some variation of a plan where you identify a certain group of people that you are connected with. Your cell phone conversations with these people are then free of charge. Almost all of their advertising campaigns about these plans talk about the importance of staying connected with the people who mean the most to you.
I wonder if these cell phone companies have tapped into a need, perhaps even a desire, that most of us have: connection, relationship, intimacy. Leonard Sweet argues in his new book, 11 Indispensible Relationships You Can't Be Without, that such relationships not only make us feel good about ourselves but are necessary to fulfilling the purposes with which God created us.

Before I go any further, I want to recommend finding a copy of this book. While we are going to try to set up the discussions here so that reading the book is not absolutely required, I think you will get so much out of reading this work.

God has never enjoyed loneliness. God created, and then God looked at Adam and said, "It is not good for man to be alone." God called people to enter into relationship with Him, they didn't first call Him. You can't talk about a Christian understanding of God without talking about relationship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Sweet points out that Christian discipleship is based first on relationship: "Before the apostles could be 'witnesses to [Christ], they first had simply to 'be with him', to be 'Withnesses'." (page 20). Good relationships become liberating forces to fulfilling God's purposes for our lives and His plans for His creation.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverence the race that is set before us" - Hebrews 12:1

Based on these principles, Sweet introduces 11 relationships that each of us needs to have to find fulfillment in life. He argues that each of these relationships has a corresponding Biblical model. Over the course of the following weeks, we will discuss each of these relationships, 1 per week. However, there are some issues worth discussing to lay a foundation for future discussions. (By the way, at the end of each chapter, Sweet provides several discussion questions. We will specifically reference some in our blog posts, but feel free to also share your thoughts on questions Sweet asks that we don't specifically mention here.)

1. Martin Luther used to encourage people, when they were in trouble, to "remember your baptism". What do you think he meant by that? What would it mean for you to 'remember your baptism' in your life today?

2. Movies, books, music and television love to share romance stories where one person tells another, "You are everything that I need." Can one person really be that for someone else?

3. Taken from Sweet, pages 29-30: "Here's a fun pop quiz (fun because there are no right or wrong answers) I sometimes give my students. I ask them to take out a sheet of paper and map the genealogy of relatives whom they have met in person since the previous Christmas. It's always amazing how many have not run across a close relative, much less a brother or sister, in months." Try this exercise yourself. "Is there a decline of active kinship ties in your life? If so, what are the implications for the need for relational networks?"

4. Sweet mentions that identifying 11 indispensible relationships for your life is not only about identifying who these people are for you but also how you perhaps fill these roles for other people. How can our search to walk with others in their needs bring fulfillment in our own lives? Do we sometimes miss potential relationship opportunities by simply seeking to do for others rather than walking with others?

You are invited to share your comments on any of the questions or thoughts shared above or on any of the comments that people post. Who knows, perhaps you may find one of your 11 in the discussion, or you may become part of someone else's 11!