A Christianity Today article gives these revealing new statistics about the decline of friendship in America:
As of 2004, the average American had just two close friends, compared with three in 1985. Those reporting no confidants at all jumped from 10 percent to 25 percent. Even the share of Americans reporting a healthy circle of four or five friends had plunged from 33 percent to just over 15 percent.
I can easily see how this is happening… I watch my neighbors leave for work at 7am, and finally pull back into the driveway after dark. I see them quickly scurry into their houses (like it’s snowing outside or something), then I see the blue glow from their TVs paint their windows all night. They might email 25 people in a day (and if they’re younger, they probably have 284 friends on MySpace), but their face-to-face contact is null. They’re clearly interested in having a healthy group of friends (why else would shows like Friends and Greys Anatomy be so popular?) but only 15 percent of them have anything close!
Since Harbor began, we’ve put a high priority on developing healthy friendships, both inside the church and outside. Relational evangelism is one of our core values. Here’s our chance to meet a desperate need in our community: simple friendship!