.

There’s something about pastoral ministry that nobody really puts in the job description. You probably won’t get invited out much. I say that somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but after more than two decades of pastoral ministry, I’ve watched it play out over and over again. And if you’re a pastor who doesn’t drink, you might as well get comfortable with being the person who does most of the inviting. There was a time in my life when I had some very close friends. But as it goes in life—and perhaps even more so in ministry—friends come and go. Pastoral friendships can be complicated because you never really stop being the pastor. You can laugh. You can joke. You can sit around a campfire. You can talk about cars, sports, family, music, or whatever else. But somewhere in the background is the reality that you’re still the pastor. And sometimes your convictions enter the room before you do. My wife and I have experienced this firsthand. We’ve had friends we spent a lot of time with. We enjoyed b...