Examine your Circle
Hey there millennials! It’s officially a Millennial March and what better topic to address than one that holds significant weight in our lives – Friendships!
I’d like to go down memory lane, sprinkle a little bit of razzle-dazzle to some of your high school memories, and give you some déjà vu. Journey with me to seventh grade math class, the teacher has the board headed a little bit like this:
Name: ____________________
Date: Monday March 7th 1000BC
Subject: Mathematics - Pre- Algebra
Topic: Circumference of a Circle
You’re sitting in class, next to your friend, doodling some sort of abstract image in the back of your book. You’re either rocking your seventh-grade hairstyles, slicked with gel and banana peels or you’re the guy with gunning pants and the black leather bag. But do you realize seventh grade is similar to your present-day adult life?
How is that so, you may ask?
Well, let’s start with this, as adults many of us still struggle with math and haven’t figure out the importance of knowing pie’s value to our everyday life. Secondly, making friends and understanding those friendships was probably difficult in the seventh grade and even more so difficult as an adult! Friendships are certainly not a piece of cake (or pie). At least in Math, the value of pie is always …π =3.14. While the value of friendships is a much more complicated subject than math, especially as a youngster; whether you were the popular socialite with everyone gravitating toward you or the withdrawn introvert who repelled from everyone, this was a time for establishing the persons closest to us.
By the time most of us made it to 12th grade, we would’ve probably had many “fall outs” with friends, experienced a whole lot of drama, betrayal and misunderstandings. However, these were the friends with whom we did homework, studied, navigated through body changes with, helped us with experiences of grief and even figure out our “puppy love” relationships.
I hope your life has progressed such that you would’ve found your special community or tribe, godly connections and wholesome friendships. I’m hoping that somehow, the subject of friendship in your life today doesn’t mirror a roller coaster high school experience and that you have stability in the people in your life you call friends.
In this article, we’re going to allow a little bit of math to help us examine the friendships in our lives - examining our circle. Bear with me, Math isn’t my favorite subject either, but I do believe that this is going to add value to the relationships you have and subtract those that hinder you.
There are five parts of a circle that we’re focusing on:
1. The Center
2. The Circumference
3. The Radius
4. The Diameter
5. The Tangent
I know that you’re automatically thinking that you are the center and the people in your life are the circumference. But that’s not quite it my friend. In this illustration, YOU ARE THE CIRCLE.
Center - God
The center of a circle is also called the focus. It is “ a central point inside a circle, the same length away from every part of the edge.” In your life, allow God to be your focus and the center of all your relationships. Often, we confuse center with self! We are self-focused, self-driven, self-oriented. It’s so easy to be self-absorbed in today’s world that we miss who the center really is. We must be focused on GOD, driven by GOD, and GOD-oriented. Don’t allow your passions and desires and even your friendships to be misdirected and disoriented.
Matthew 6:33 - “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Don’t try to take on life by yourself. Focus on God and the right connections will come. Friendship ultimately comes from the core. God himself wants to be your best friend and give new meaning and value to friendship in your life. Great friendship with God results in wholesome friendship with man.
Circumference
The circumference is “the length all the way around a full rotation of the circle, the edge of the circle.” In this case, the circumference is your kingdom purpose and assignment – who God has ordained you to be. Jeremiah 29:11 - “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Before we were even born, those umpteen years ago, God made everything full circle. Honestly, that’s enough for a praise break right there. You have full permission to pause and simply say, “Thank you Jesus!”. The reality is, getting to the circumference - the fullness of who you are in Christ - is a journey and we weren’t made to get there on our own. Jesus had a purpose and even he didn’t get to the Cross on his own. Before his ministry even begun, he gathered his tribe of disciples to follow him. Jesus knew that he couldn’t do it alone.
Radius and Diameter
There are people we need in our lives who connect us to God (our focus) and help us get to the place that God has called us to (the circumference). The radius is “the distance from the center of a circle to the edge” and the diameter is a “straight line across a circle from edge to edge, passing through the center. The diameter is double the length of the radius. Simply put, there are some persons who will only be with you for a season of your life, however, they play a significant role. Others may be there for the long haul and are much closer to you - the diameter. No matter the length of time or the proximity of a friend, ensure that the relationships of your inner circle are healthy and always connected to God. If there’s no God-connection, there’s a disconnection because they cannot identify with your core or push you to a place they cannot see for you themselves.
Tangent
Last but by no means least, this picture clearly illustrates what the tangent is in our lives. Burdensome. Extra. Disconnected. Weighty. In math, “the tangent is the straight line that ‘just touches’ the curve at a point.” It is on the outside of the circle. It doesn’t connect to the focus. It simply attaches itself to our destiny and weighs down on us. If you have friendships that reflect this, then certainly they need to be evaluated.
Reflective Questions:
- What does “Full Circle” look like to you? Does it reflect God’s vision of “Full Circle” for your life?
- Is God the center/focus of your life?
- Is God the foundation of your friendships? Do the people in your life push you as a young Christian?
- Who has been a tangent in your life? What’s it going to take for you to get rid of the added weight from unfruitful relationships?
Maybe this wasn’t the typical approach to explore the friendships you have. However, we can definitely see that examining your circle is no different from literally, examining a circle.
Hey, at least we can say that Math Class actually taught us something we could apply to our lives!