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How are you doing?
We know, we know, that’s not a question that men get asked a lot. Most of us go days, weeks, or even months without anyone stopping us and just asking how we are. So take a minute, close your eyes, and be honest with yourself.
How are you doing?
Everything has been wild since March 11th, a date that sticks in our heads as the day the NBA canceled their first games due to COVID-19. Over the last 201 days, most of us have faced massive shifts in our schedules, work dynamics, family dynamics, and probably faith dynamics. We’ve learned that we’re more capable than we imagined as we stretched, shifted, and acclimated. We found new tendencies, and if we’re honest, temptations. We’ve been hopeful, hopeless, and everything in between.
As husbands and fathers, sons and brothers, we’ve felt all of the same things you have, and now that life is starting to normalize, we’re looking around and realizing that the answer to the question, “how are you doing,” is tied to the answer of a similar, but a different one:
How are we doing?
If the last couple hundred days have taught us anything, it’s that as the world seeks to pull us apart, men who are earnestly seeking to live more and more like Jesus have to draw closer together. Fight Clubs have become essential places where men can openly discuss the days’ challenges and circle around one another in prayer and accountability. Whether your fight club has met regularly or the schedule has fallen by the wayside, we encourage you to reaffirm your commitment to meeting with a small group of men who you can walk through life alongside. Psalm 133 paints a beautiful picture of just how good it is for us to link arms and walk through life together:
How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.
It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.
We are meant to walk through life alongside our brothers; to fight for them, to pray for them and to be there for each other no matter what. We can’t do that fully unless we check in on each other, and allow them to check in on us. Being open and honest is something you’ll hear us talk about a lot, but that’s because it’s the silver bullet to counter loneliness, something that will cripple us and open us up to making decisions that stray far from God’s path for our lives. So even right now, take a second and reach out to your brothers and ask them a simple question:
How are you doing?