One Piece of Advice | Pilgrim Benham

Pastor Pilgrim Benham, Bradenton, Florida, shares his advice about the importance of having a true friend in ministry. The friendship of Paul and Barnabas serves as a great example of two men whose relationship endured times of closeness as well as disagreement. It was Barnabas—son of encouragement—who first introduced Paul to the apostles after his conversion on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:27). We need friends in ministry who will pull us, push us and challenge us in discipleship. We need accountability and encouragement. “We need to ‘vent up.’ We need to share our frustration in ministry, but we don’t want to do that with someone who is ministering under our care.” Find someone who is a peer or mentor in ministry, a person with whom you can talk openly and even weather conflict, iron sharpening iron (Proverbs 27:17). This needs to be a priority. “Do you have someone in your life that’s a friend, someone that you can rely one and they can rely on you?”