I want you to imagine that you are taking a trip to a national park for a week. You can choose to sleep in a tent or a hotel-style room inside a modest lodge within the park. But here’s the catch – you have to take 3 people with you and you all have to stay in the same tent or the same room. Think about who you would take. Do you have the 3 people in your mind that you would choose to do this with?

Now imagine that you’ve just received the most exciting news. Maybe you got the job offer you’ve been dreaming of or you got engaged or you’ve been chosen to be part of a significant initiative. And you have to go out and celebrate tonight. What restaurant are you going to? And you have to make a reservation for 4 people. Who are the other 3 people you would have join you for this celebration dinner?

Lastly, imagine you are walking through the most difficult trial of your entire life. You have to invite 3 people over to your home and you have to share every detail of the pain you are experiencing. Do you know who those 3 people would be? I’m curious – did you choose the same 3 people for all three scenarios, or did you choose different people? Was it hard to name three? Was it difficult to name only three?

Do you have people who are traveling with you through this beautiful and challenging reality we call life? If you have people, are they the right people? This is what I want to talk about today in a message I’m calling, “Building Future Companions”. I also considered naming this message “How to Build Your Inner Circle”. In his book, Mind Shift, Erwin McManus has a chapter titled “You Can’t Take Everyone with You.”

“This is why it is so important to choose the people with whom you do life. You need a personal inner circle. You need people you trust. People who believe in you. People who are not only committed to your vision but also committed to you. People you are committed to with the same level of honesty and support. This is the crew that’s going to carry you through your most difficult moments. This is the crew that’s bound to you through blood, sweat, and tears.” -Erwin McManus, Mind Shift

Does this idea even fit God’s plan for our lives? Or does He think it doesn’t really matter, as long as we have Him as our Companion? The Bible uses the word walk to frame this idea of companionship. So I want you thinking about this question – who is walking with me on the journey called my life?

Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.

I love this psalm and have taught it before, mostly emphasizing the intimacy we can have with God. And that’s such a huge part of this text. But today I want to emphasize how our closest companions have something to do with our life with God and something to do with whether or not we flourish in the future.

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand with sinners or sit in the midst of mockers.” Notice the progression. Walking with them. Standing in the path they take. Just deciding to take a seat in the midst of them. If we allow the wrong people to be part of our inner circle, it will affect our spiritual life and whether or not we prosper in the future.

The future of your faith is tied to the people you allow in your inner circle.

Walk in step with. Stand with. Sit in the company of. While this Psalm doesn’t tell us who to walk with, other Scriptures like this one do:

Proverbs 13:20 Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

Who you are going to become in the future is tied to the company you keep in the present. We cannot walk in close companionship with fools and somehow think it’s going to make us become wise.

companion – one that accompanies another

A companion is also someone who travels with another. Think about that idea and hear this from the prophet Amos.

Amos 3:3 Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?

Here’s what one commentator says about this question.

They must have met, worked out travel plans, and agreed on time to depart, destination, and the route to take.

Who are your traveling partners when it comes to your life and faith? One of the reasons this church exists is so that each of us can access a group of people we can travel through life with. And you can’t build an inner circle just by showing up on a Sunday. It’s a great first step into this community, but there are other steps you’ll need to take.

You have to step into a circle before you can build an inner circle.

Circles are what we call our Epic Groups. We will soon begin sign-ups and I want you to think about signing up for a group as a pathway to building your inner circle. And for those of you who are between the ages of 18 and 30, we launch our Epic Young Adults ministry this Thursday night. I’ve heard they’ve asked a “not so young” adult to speak. I’m going to be speaking about how you can make decisions in your 20s that determine what your 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond will look like. Step into this ministry and find the kinds of people who will help you build the future you want to live in.

Regardless of your age, stage of life, personality, or responsibilities, you need this to go the distance in your faith. I love how Gordon MacDonald writes about his inner circle:

“We came to believe in the importance of something like an extended family where there would be deep commitment to meet with one another regularly, to share life and its challenges, and to help each other find out what God was saying to us.” -Gordon MacDonald, A Resilient Life

I want to give some practical wisdom on some things we want to be aware of, even as we make a commitment to build our inner circles for the future.

Do not put someone in your inner circle until you’ve been able to adequately observe the fruit in their life.

Jesus says, “By their fruit you will recognize them. Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” Look beyond mere appearances and evaluate the actual substance of someone’s life and faith.

Only include people in your inner circle who are committed to their own spiritual growth and your spiritual growth.

“Always make room for people to go with you into your future, but never sacrifice your future for those who want you to stay exactly how you are.” -Erwin McManus, Mind Shift

Do not assume every person in your inner circle will be there for the rest of your life.

Do not let normal conflict cause you to push people out of your inner circle. Remember that conflict is part of every close relationship.

If Jesus needed an inner circle, so do you and so do I. If anyone could have gotten away with it because of who they were, it would have been Jesus. But he chooses 12 disciples and shares life with them at a deep level. Yet even within the 12, Jesus chooses 3 to do life with at the most intimate level. Here’s a scene where he puts his value of that inner circle on display.

Matthew 26:36-38 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

What is happening here with Jesus? He is overwhelmed with sorrow and troubled. Think about what He says when He’s on the cross – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus is asking Peter, James and John to see him and be in this with him. It’s like he’s saying, “This is hard. I don’t think I can do this. Will you stay with me? Will you help me? Will you pray for me? Will you remind me of what’s true about God and about me?” Notice Jesus doesn’t carry this alone, nor does he just ask three random people to be with him in his darkest hour.

If Jesus needed traveling companions, an inner circle, are we really going to keep thinking that we’re fine without one or that we’ll be okay without the right one? Let’s do whatever it takes to build companions for the future. Step into community. Be a little vulnerable. See who God might bring into your life. Take a next step with someone who seems to have potential for your inner circle…because your future depends on it.

Step into companionship with Jesus, the One who sticks close regardless of who comes or goes in your life. Make a commitment that you will prioritize building your inner circle over building your career or building your bank account. Decide that the discomfort is worth it. So much of your future reality is tied to who you’re walking with in the present.